this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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she violated the recently passed city law that prohibits civilians from bringing firearms to protests, the police said

At no point in time was anyone menaced or injured as a result of her possessing the firearm

Unless she was threatening someone (the article specifically claims she wasn't), she will be acquitted. One does not have just one right at a time, one has all their rights all the time.

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Interesting case as Bruen seems to have made the local law invalid.

OTOH, I don't think was meant to be a test case. Sounds like someone saw a person with a gun, had a panic attack and called the cops.

Although the councilwoman has a concealed carry permit, she violated the recently passed city law that prohibits civilians from bringing firearms to protests, the police said.

Remember kids! If you practice one right, you must give up another!

Lemmy: 1A blocked? RAGE!

Lemmy: 2A? Meh, I'm fine with that.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

she violated the recently passed city law that prohibits civilians from bringing firearms to protests, the police said

At no point in time was anyone menaced or injured as a result of her possessing the firearm

Unless she was threatening someone (the article specifically claims she wasn't), she will be acquitted. One does not have just one right at a time, one has all their rights all the time.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Bringing a gun to a protest is the crime, so there's no question she's guilty, but I expect the whole point is to challenge it to the Supreme Court and get it struck down.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It'll definitely get struck down if it makes it that far. You have a right to protest, and you have a right to carry a firearm. They can't state that you don't have some of your rights when exercising other rights.

Edit: this is assuming you can even carry a firearm in NYC, which seems unlikely. I know that when I visited, I checked if I could carry my pocketknife and the answer was no, which seems really fucking lame to someone who has carried a pocket knife his entire life.

[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

She did have a concealed carry permit and the Supremes just struck down their "May issue" rules and converted them to a "Shall issue" state.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Rifle_%26_Pistol_Association,_Inc._v._Bruen

"The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not 'a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.' We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need."[28]

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

the Supremes just struck down their "May issue" rules and converted them to a "Shall issue" state.

Sweet!

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can you even own and walk around with a concealed weapon in NYC? I thought that was illegal in itself

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

NYC used to (functionally) ban carry. Such broad restrictions were struck down last year in Bruen.

[–] tal@lemmy.today 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

One does not have just one right at a time, one has all their rights all the time.

That may be what one wants, but I'm not sure that that's actually what SCOTUS would say. I bet that there are laws somewhere about carrying while under the influence.

googles

Sounds like it.

https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/is-it-illegal-possess-a-firearm-while-under-influence

It is almost always a crime to possess a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance.

In Wisconsin, an example:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2021/05/04/court-finds-intoxication-voids-right-carry-gun-even-own-home/4931641001/

Even in your own home, you can't carry a gun while drunk unless acting in self-defense

I don't know if that has gone to SCOTUS, but I don't think that situational laws are just an NYC foible.

Now, being at a political protest and being under the influence may not be exactly comparable situations, but I wouldn't be so sure that SCOTUS will rule that any situational law is unconstitutional.

EDIT: And that being said, it sounds like the Wisconsin Supreme Court was ruling on alcohol based on interpretation of what was considered acceptable at the time the Constitution went through when it comes to carrying while being intoxicated, and I'm not sure that the same reasoning would support restrictions at protests:

Christen thought a famous 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case about gun rights was squarely in his favor. In that case, District of Columbia v. Heller, the court said the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to bear arms, apart from any militia, and rejected the city's ban on handguns and restrictions on how long guns must be stored in homes.

But the trial judge and Court of Appeals pointed out the Heller case assured that right for "law abiding, responsible citizens."

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Annette Ziegler observed that laws against intoxicated use of weapons were in place around the time of the nation's founding in the 18th century.

Wisconsin's law doesn't ban ownership of a gun, the court notes, just carrying it while intoxicated, so Christen's core Second Amendment rights weren't at risk. That means the law need only be "substantially related" to a legitimate government purpose.

That, the majority found, was to advance public safety and protect people from the often volatile, sometimes deadly combination of guns and alcohol.