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Saturday, September 08, 2007

Law - Gun laws in court

"D.C. Case Could Shape Gun Laws: Supreme Court Is Asked to Uphold Ban" is the headline to a lengthy Sept. 5th story by Robert Barnes and David Nakamura in the Washington Post. Some quotes:

The District asked the Supreme Court yesterday to save the city's ban on handgun ownership, saying an appeals court's decision overturning the prohibition "drastically departs from the mainstream of American jurisprudence."

If the court agrees to take the case, as most legal experts believe is likely, it could lead to a historic decision sometime next year on whether the Second Amendment to the Constitution protects an individual's right to own a gun or simply imparts a collective, civic right related to maintaining state militias.

It is a question that has been hotly debated in the nation's courts and legislatures for years, and a decision by the Supreme Court to settle the issue could carry broad implications for local governments and thrust gun control as an issue into the 2008 elections.

The District argues in its petition that its law -- one of the strictest in the nation -- should be upheld regardless of whether the court sides with the individualist or collective legal theory. * * *

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2 to 1 in March to throw out the District's law, which prohibits handgun ownership except by active and retired law enforcement officers. It also struck down a law requiring that rifles and shotguns kept in private homes be unloaded and disassembled or bound by trigger locks.

The court ruled that the Second Amendment "protects an individual right to keep and bear arms" and that "once it is determined -- as we have done -- that handguns are 'Arms' referred to in the Second Amendment, it is not open to the District to ban them."

The court acknowledged that its decision was groundbreaking; only one other federal appeals court -- that of the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans -- has recognized an individual's right to gun ownership, and it nevertheless upheld the federal gun-control law at issue. Nine other circuits around the country have endorsed the collective right.

That split is what makes it likely that the justices will accept the case. The lawyers who brought the case on behalf of six D.C. residents who wanted to overturn the ban also want the court to take the case.

And what of the Indiana's Gary-based gun suit? Here are some quotes from a news release in a Dec. 23, 2003 ILB entry (which contains a lot of valuable information):
In an important legal victory against the gun industry, the Indiana Supreme Court today unanimously ruled that the city of Gary may proceed with its lawsuit against gun manufacturers and sellers. The court reversed a lower court ruling dismissing the city's claims and rejected virtually every argument made by the industry against the suit.

This ruling comes as Congress is considering legislation to ban civil suits by gun violence victims and cities and immunize negligent gun sellers. Currently, 44 states allow suits by victims or cities against negligent gun sellers. The federal immunity bill would override all of these states' laws. Attorneys with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence represent Gary, Ind., in this case.

Here is a link to the Supreme Court's Dec. 23, 2003 opinion in Gary v. Smith & Wesson.

Fast forward to Oct. 6, 2006, where then Lake Superior Court Civil Division 5 Judge Robert Pete "ruled a year-old federal law shielding gun makers from lawsuits" to be unconstitutional. See this Oct. 30, 2006 ILB entry. Check here for a copy of Judge Pete's ruling. "Gun makers appeal Hoosier's ruling" is the heading to this Nov. 27, 2006 ILB entry.

A check of the Clerk's docket shows that "Case Number: 45 A 05 - 0612 - CV - 00754, SMITH AND WESSON ET AL. -V- CITY OF GARY, Interlocutory" is set for oral argument . The question is whether the federal immunity bill (the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of "PLCAA") shields gunmakers from the lawsuit. There are at this count 25 attorneys-law firms, including the U.S. Attorney, listed in the docket.

Oral argument is set for Oct. 1, 2007, in the Supreme Court courtroom, at 10:00 am. The argument will be web-cast. The scheduled panel members are Judges Sharpnack, Friedlander, and Riley.

[More] For more on the DC gun suit, see this Sept. 6, 2007 entry in SCOTUSblog.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 8, 2007 08:07 AM
Posted to General Law Related