Anti-Gun Democrats DEFEATED, Again - NRA lawsuit against Evanston remains pending
- From: Patriot Games <Patriot@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 12 May 2009 08:12:36 -0400
http://media.www.dailynorthwestern.com/media/storage/paper853/news/2009/05/11/City/Nra-Lawsuit.Against.Evanston.Remains.Pending-3739662.shtml
NRA lawsuit against Evanston remains pending
5/11/09
Evanston members of the National Rifle Association are still waiting
on a final decision in their lawsuit against the City of Evanston
regarding the ban on handguns.
Three local NRA members filed the complaint in June after the Supreme
Court's District of Columbia v. Heller decision, which found
Washington's D.C.'s handgun ban unconstitutional. After the decision,
the city amended the handgun code to allow for firearm possessions
within a residence, according to a memo from the district judge on
April 27. This was met with an amended complaint from the NRA members,
who cited problems with not being able to transport handguns.
Stephen Halbrook, an attorney who represents the NRA and specializes
in firearms law, said the proposed change to the ban was not
satisfactory.
"That doesn't go far enough; there's no practical way to get (a
handgun) to there or from there," he said. "We have NRA members who
pass through. They cannot do that legally. They would have to divert
where the transport firearms lawfully."
The city is not enforcing the handgun ban while the case is
proceeding, and local NRA members are probably not exercising any new
rights because of the standing restrictions, Halbrook said.
"The problem is (the plaintiffs) are law-abiding people, so they don't
have any guns in their homes," he said. "You couldn't have it for any
motive other than self-defense, you couldn't use it for hunting or
take it from the home to get it repaired or to go to a shooting
range."
The case, brought by Jonathan Garber, Alan Miller and Kevin Stanton,
immediately followed Heller. The City of Evanston initially made a
motion to dismiss the complaint and a district judge rendered an order
denying the motion.
Ald. Steven Bernstein (4th) said the lawsuit is ongoing.
"We modified the ordinance. We thought we would be out of a lawsuit
and we're not," he said. Bernstein declined further comment.
While members of the NRA are not organized into chapters by city, they
form an active community, said Todd Vandermyde, an NRA lobbyist.
Events and issues bring members of the nonprofit organization together
on occasion, such as the lawsuit against the City of Evanston.
"Usually if there's something going at a local level we will contact
members and set up a meeting saying 'Here's what's happening in the
community, how do you want to take action on it?'" he said. Otherwise
they host frequent fundraisers, dinners and firearm safety training
events and might belong to gun clubs.
The plaintiffs in the case against Evanston are longtime members of
the NRA, Vandermyde said.
Halbrook said the case against Evanston was a matter of exercising the
Second Amendment right to bear arms.
"The result would be very tangible," he said. "The members could
legally keep handguns in their home, but the case is more about the
legal issues and not practical issues."
.
- Prev by Date: Sheriff’s department will sell concealed weapons permits
- Next by Date: MA - No Charges Pending for Resident Who Shot Intruder Dead
- Previous by thread: Sheriff’s department will sell concealed weapons permits
- Next by thread: MA - No Charges Pending for Resident Who Shot Intruder Dead
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
