The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association (NYSRPA), the Westchester County Firearm Owners Association (WCFOA), the Sportsmen’s Association for Firearm Education (SAFE) and AR-15.com.LLC have taken the first step in legal challenges to the recently-enacted NY gun law.
The groups filed a “Notice of Claim” with the Attorney General of the State of New York, a requirement under NY law before commencing tort suits against the State. (It’s not clear to me why they needed to file a NoC, but I assume it was out of an abundance of caution.)
WCFOA, on its website, issued the following statement, in part:
By filing this lawsuit, the New York State organizations involved have made clear their intent, and the intent of their members, to fight this law on every level, and to take it, if necessary, to the United States Supreme Court. It is not an exaggeration to state that the future of gun ownership in New York State hinges on the outcome of this lawsuit. In fact the future of gun ownership in the United States will be affected directly by the outcome of this New York lawsuit.
The Notice of Claim lists nine legal claims, including:
Plaintiffs claim that passage and enforcement of the aforementioned legislation:
A. violates their fundamental constitutional rights to lawfully possess, keep, bear and
use firearms for self-defense and other lawful purposes;B. violates their constitutional rights to privacy;
C. impermissibly interferes with and infringes upon their fundamental constitutional
rights to travel both intra-state and inter-state with lawfully possessed firearms;
A spokesman for NYSRPA declined to comment on why suit was not filed in federal court and as to future legal plans and strategy: “I cannot comment on legal matters. You’re going to have to wait until the actual suit is filed.”
As mentioned here previously, Alan Gura, the attorney who successfully argued the Heller v. D.C. and McDonald v. Chicago 2nd Amendment cases in the Supreme Court, argues that the NY 7-round limit “is clearly unconstitutional.”
GunPoliticsNY.com is a a central location for news regarding the legal challenges.
Notice of Claim Challenging NY Gun Law
Update: WCFOA sent me the following statement:
The Notice of Claim clearly defines the issues that will be addressed by the lawsuit. Since the law was passed at light-speed, without any public input or participation, and since Governor Cuomo invoked “necessity” in order to bypass the usual time-line protocols, the result is a law that is a hastily cobbled together nightmare.
There are numerous, clear errors and contradictions which have not yet been addressed by the State Senate nor the State Assembly. Had the governor gone through the usual steps, most of these faults would have been changed
or removed. In the mean time, law-abiding citizens may become legally entangled by these errors and blunders.
WCFOA is a local, county organization and as such would not be instrumental in filing a federal case. One of the federal firearm rights organizations such as the NRA, GOA, SAF or others would be the entities who would file suit. Local state and county organizations may wish to participate, either financially or through an Amicus brief.
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Comments
Good! This will be interesting to watch.
New York is off my list of places I will risk visiting for the foreseeable future.
Agreed. If I can’t visit a state with my firearm, I’m not visiting the state.
I’ll also follow the proper procedures for storing my firearms if I have to travel through any state as per Federal Law.
And of course, I’ll have a printout for each of the states as well as the Federal transport law.
But I hope to avoid all the gungrabber states. I really want to visit Vermont though, as my some of my family comes from that state. Getting there from Florida…tricky drive.
MAYBE I’ll just claim “journalist exemption” should I be stopped. Gotta get that old blog of mine restarted…
I’d love to see them swamp the NY courts with lawsuits challenging Cuomo’s abomination.
Stay tuned–more legal challenges are on the way–I can say with certainty. Cuomo hasn’t heard the last of us in this liberal sinkhole.
I sincerely hope they succeed in getting most or all of the law struck down. The sooner we can get past the insanity of banning firearms because of their cosmetic features and magazine limits the better. Heck, just the sooner we can get past this insanity in general would be great.
Illustrating Chicagoland Idiocy, Mayhem and Stupidity at heyjackass.com
Any experts in this kind of litigation have any estimate of what kind of time frame we are talking here? Months, years, geologic epochs?
[…] » Gun groups commence legal challenge to NY gun law – Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion […]
My expectation, speaking as an ill-informed west coaster, is the NY courts will mostly uphold Cuomo’s Insanity. And three to five years later a few lower-level federal courts will muddy those waters. By that time the high court will be so progressive they will have changed their name to “The Royal Court” and rule it permissible. We are in so much trouble.
As the comments make clear, one real problem – certainly not limited to the federal courts in New York – is that the line dividing the judicial from the political is increasingly hard to discern, and there is real and fully justified skepticism that there is any such line anymore. That eviscerates the Rule of Law and makes it an oxymoron.
“There are numerous, clear errors and contradictions which have not yet been addressed by the State Senate nor the State Assembly.”
Isn’t this the usual procedure with the Democrats? They pass it in order to know what’s in it.
Good. Sending money.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2013/02/04/andrew-cuomos-poll-numbers-crumble-chris-matthews-frets-anybody-safe
That awful NRA. Is their no rights-crushing pol safe from their frightful power…!?!?
Chrisy seems to have difficulty understanding how a representative democracy works. It is not just about getting elected last time, it is also about getting re-elected next time.
Erie County Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Assn released a statement earlier saying they will not enforce the SAFE Act, and that above all they will uphold rhe Constitution.
No link but I’ll post the text when I get home.
One BIG reason that Prohibition failed is that it was not enforced in many areas by local LEOs.
Another, of course, is that people just refused to abide it.
Another reason Prohibition was repealed was Jury Nullification.
Text:
To: The citizens of Erie County From: The Erie County Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association.
The Erie County Sheriff’s PBA is the organization that represents the men and women of the Erie County Sheriff’s Police Services Division. All are sworn Deputy Sheriff’s and certified New York State police officers engaged in criminal law enforcement throughout Erie County. All have taken an oath… to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Our membership, like many citizens of New York are outraged at Governor Cuomo’s unprecedented attack on our second amendment rights. Since 1977 three Erie County Sheriff’s Deputies have been murdered and three wounded by gunfire in the line of duty. In addition two deputies have been forced to use deadly force to defend themselves from lethal attack by criminals. There is a widespread misconception that law enforcement officers favor additional restrictions on firearms ownership by law abiding citizens. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rank and file police officers see every day the aftermath of violent criminal attacks on defenseless victims. The uniformed police officers out as window dressing during the signing of these laws are simply lap dogs seeking to further their own political ambitions. The right of self-defense is an inherent right bestowed upon us by our creator. It is not granted to us by elitist politicians like Andrew Cuomo and Sheldon Silver to be denied when they see fit. Do not be misled; the second amendment is not about hunting or target shooting. It is about the right of law abiding citizens to defend themselves and is the last line of defense against an over reaching and tyrannical government.
The NYS Safe Act was rammed through the legislature by Cuomo ignoring the usual three day requirement for elected representatives to be able to review the legislation and receive feedback from their constituents. It is nothing more than a tool used by Cuomo to further his personal political ambitions. This law will do nothing to reduce violent crime, as it is painfully clear that those intent on victimizing others will ignore its provisions. It will simply create more victims. It is time for all New Yorkers to wake up. We must confront the societal breakdowns which cause the type of horrific mass shootings incidents we have recently seen, many of which are directly caused by the very policies that politicians like Cuomo seek to advance. On January 24, 2013 the Erie County Sheriff’s PBA unanimously passed a resolution of non-support for the NYS Safe Act. We will work tirelessly to see this law overturned. We commend and will support those elected officials with the courage to oppose this misguided law and condemn those that did not. We are citizens first and police officers second. We do not pick and choose which amendments of the United States Constitutions we will uphold.
Politicians who swear an oath to uphold the constitution should do the same.
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