Three Courts Reject Gun Law Challenges In 24 Hours

Arizona, California, New Jersey, New Mexico and Texas Affected

Jan 18, 2012

Washington, DC -- In a string of legal victories for gun control, late last week courts rejected three gun lobby lawsuits challenging laws restricting the public carrying of guns in California and New Jersey and challenging a federal rule to curb gun trafficking along the Mexico border.
 
In all three cases, courts sided with arguments presented in legal briefs by the Brady Center that the contested gun laws were lawful and constitutional.  “The gun lobby makes its priorities clear by filing lawsuit after lawsuit to strike down sensible gun laws, instead of working to keep guns off our streets and assisting law enforcement to fight illegal gun trafficking, “ said Jonathan Lowy, Director of the Brady Center’s Legal Action Project.  “We know there are too many victims of gun violence, and we are grateful that the courts agree that these laws are necessary to protect our communities from the scourge of gun violence.”
 
In a ruling affecting thousands of high-firepower rifle sales in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas, United States District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, in Washington, D.C. dismissed a gun lobby challenge to an Obama Administration rule requiring that gun dealers in the Southwest border states notify law enforcement of bulk sales of semi-automatic rifles, such as AK-47 assault rifles.  These sales are a key indicator of gun trafficking.  The United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the case filed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, agreeing with an amicus brief filed by the Brady Center that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) had authority to promulgate the rule.  In National Shooting Sports Foundation v. Jones, the court ruled that  “ATF determined that certain powerful long guns are weapons of choice of Mexican drug cartels, and that multiple sales of such guns is a strong indicator of gun trafficking.”
 
In California, a federal judge upheld Los Angeles County’s strong concealed carry laws, agreeing with an amicus brief filed by the Brady Center in Birdt v. Beck.  This ruling follows similar rulings at the district court level in Yolo County and San Diego County.  Those prior decisions are now on appeal in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  The Brady Center filed amicus briefs at the appellate level in the pending cases.
 
In New Jersey, a federal judge upheld New Jersey’s strong restrictions on the public carrying of guns, throwing out the Second Amendment Foundation’s lawsuit challenging those restrictions.  Agreeing with the Brady Center’s amicus brief, the court held that the Second Amendment “is unique among all other constitutional rights to the individual because it permits the user of a firearm to cause serious personal injury – including the ultimate injury, death – to other individuals, rightly or wrongly,” and said “the Second Amendment does not include a general right to carry handguns outside the home.”

These legal decisions follow recent rulings by at least a dozen other courts around the nation declaring that the Second Amendment right to possess firearms is limited to the home.  Similar to the defeats suffered by the gun lobby in these three cases, a Brady Center report, Hollow Victory?, examines the results of more than 400 challenges to gun laws filed by the gun lobby and gun criminals from the time the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment provides an “individual right” to possess guns in the home for self-defense to the summer of 2011.  The report finds that the courts overwhelmingly have rejected the gun lobby’s challenges.

###

The Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, is the nation's largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence. The Brady Campaign works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies to create an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a national non-profit organization working to reduce the tragic toll of gun violence through education, research, and legal advocacy.

Dan Gross is the President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Brady Center. A photo and more information about Dan Gross is available here.

For more insight on gun violence prevention, follow The Brady Blog, Facebook Page and Twitter Account.

Brady News Releases are available via RSS