BELLEVUE, WA — Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in a challenge of Delaware’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” have filed a reply brief with the U.S. Third District Court of Appeals in a consolidation of cases.
SAF is involved in two of the three cases, known as Graham v. Jennings and Gray v. Jennings. SAF is joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, DJJAMS LLC and individual citizens Owen Stevens, Christopher Graham, William Taylor, and Gabriel Gray. They are represented by attorneys Bradley P. Lehman at Gellert Scali Busenkell & Brown in Wilmington, Del., and David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and William Bergstrom at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.
In their brief, SAF and its fellow plaintiffs tell the court that Delaware’s law banning firearms and ammunition magazines, which are possessed by millions of Americans, is “flagrantly unconstitutional.”
“Under binding Supreme Court precedent, the law-abiding citizens of this country have an absolute right to possess arms that are in common use,” stated SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Arms possessed by millions of citizens easily meet that description.”
“So long as the Delaware ban remains in effect,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “people in that state are unable to fully exercise their Second Amendment rights. Delaware’s ban on magazines that can hold more than 17 rounds arbitrarily sets a limit to what the Legislature believes is ‘enough’ for self-defense. Unfortunately for the Legislature, the Second Amendment protects ‘all instruments that constitute bearable arms,’ and that not only applies to the magazines at issue, but the so-called ‘assault weapons’ as well. We look forward to vindicating the rights of Delawareans through our legal action.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
