Resisting the Second Amendment in California: more of the same from the left…
BELLEVUE, WA – The Second
Amendment Foundation today thanked the National Rifle Association and California
Rifle and Pistol Foundation for filing amicus briefs in SAF’s challenge of Yolo
County, California’s policies that exploit the state’s regulations on the
issuance of concealed firearms carry permits.
Joining SAF in that lawsuit
is the CalGuns Foundation. The case is known as Richards v. Prieto. It targets
Yolo County’s arbitrary policy that requires CCW applicants to provide good
cause for obtaining a permit, and subjects each applicant to a “moral character”
standard.
“The policies practices in Yolo County are clearly
unconstitutional and should be overturned,” said SAF Executive Vice President
Alan M. Gottlieb. “We filed the lawsuit because citizens should not be subjected
to such policies simply in an effort to exercise their rights to bear arms for
personal protection.
“We are delighted that our good friends at both the
NRA and CRPA have filed briefs in support of this cause,” he continued.
“Authorities in Yolo County who are trying to perpetuate this egregious policy
despite the Supreme Court’s clear determination that self-defense is a
cornerstone tenet of the right to keep and bear arms.”
Gottlieb noted
that the overwhelming majority of the states have adopted shall-issue statutes
for concealed carry licenses or permits, and that they have worked remarkably
well by removing the authority from local officials who may want to abuse
complicated regulations such as those that exist in the Golden
State.
“State and local governments should be scrambling to review, and
where necessary, adjust firearms laws and regulations in the wake of two Supreme
Court rulings on the Second Amendment,” Gottlieb said. “When local governments
continue to resist, rather than comply with, the principles and spirit of high
court rulings and the Constitution, we’ll continue to meet them in court. As NRA
and CRPAF have demonstrated with their briefs in this case, when we take people
to court, we’re going to have company.”
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 650,000 members
and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public
about the consequences of gun control. In addition to the landmark McDonald v.
Chicago Supreme Court Case, SAF has previously funded successful
firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; New
Orleans; Chicago and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit
against the cities suing gun makers and numerous amicus briefs holding the
Second Amendment as an individual right.
