Shall Not Be Questioned

The county where I grew up was slapped with a federal civil rights lawsuit yesterday for refusing to return lawfully owned guns to residents after they’ve been seized.

The plaintiff, Thomas DeOrio, 21, of Glen Mills, argues that the county government, judges and Sheriff’s Department illegally retain confiscated guns – even if a crime hasn’t been committed – when the owner is entitled to retrieve them.

In DeOrio’s case, Brookhaven police seized his collection of handguns and rifles in October and turned them over to the sheriff when his girlfriend filed for a temporary protection-from-abuse order. Shields said she perceived something he had said to be threatening. Three days later, after a court hearing, a judge dismissed the order, records show.

But DeOrio soon learned that getting his guns back wouldn’t be as easy.

Although the protection-from-abuse order had been thrown out, Shields said the sheriff’s office refused to return the firearms unless DeOrio filed a “legal action.”

The sheriff’s office is claiming that the county doesn’t give him authority to return the guns.  Unfortunately, the state does say the guns need to be returned.

The plaintiff is represented by the same attorney who NRA is working with to defeat the illegal Philadelphia gun laws.

Because it’ll be a full three ring performance people will have to go through to exercise their rights:

The mayor said he’s looking at new D.C. laws requiring gun owners to go through five hours of safety training, register their firearms every three years and undergo criminal background checks every six years.

He must be worried he’s going to lose on the incorporation question.  I would suggest this is progress, but we really want incorporation.  If the laws are modified, they should be challenged, but we do not yet have a ruling yet from the Supreme Court which says these kinds of restrictions are a violation of the Second Amendment.  All we have now is you have some vague individual right to a handgun in your home.

I don’t think you can condition the exercise of a fundamental right on having to jump through hoops.  That’s not to say I think responsible gun owners shouldn’t get training.  They should.  I am not opposed to all safety training, just using it as a prior restraint on being able to purchase a firearm.

Gun shop owners negotiate with anti-gun organizations at their own peril.  These people are not interested in coming to an understanding — they want you out of business and your product banned.  Give them nothing.  Do not talk to them.  We are your customers, and we’re just warning you if you want us to continue patronizing your businesses.

Sensibly Progressive talks about his record on guns.

SayUncle has the story.  This is not unexpected, since there’s controlling higher court precedent that binds the lower court.