Thursday, April 02, 2009



SAF SUES ERIC HOLDER OVER GUN RIGHTS OF NON-RESIDENT AMERICAN CITIZENS

Odd case

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Attorney General Eric Holder, seeking an injunction against enforcement of a federal law that makes it impossible for American citizens who reside outside the United States to purchase firearms while they are in this country.

SAF is joined by two natural-born citizens, Maxwell Hodgkins and Stephen Dearth, who have been denied the opportunity to buy firearms because they do not currently reside in the United States. Hodgkins currently lives in the United Kingdom, and Dearth is a resident of Canada.

The lawsuit alleges that Holder, as attorney general, is enforcing unconstitutional laws that prevent citizens like Hodgkins and Dearth from exercising their Second Amendment rights. The complaint also asserts that enforcement of the federal gun laws that prevent such citizens from purchasing firearms when they visit the U.S. violates their right of equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. The plaintiffs are represented by Virginia attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued the Heller case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

"This is what happens when anti-gunners rush to pass a restrictive gun law that ignores the constitutional rights of law-abiding American citizens who happen to be living abroad," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. "Honest Americans who live in other countries for a variety of reasons should not be denied their Second or Fifth Amendment rights when they return to American soil. Hodgkins and Dearth, and many others just like them, are victims of anti-gun rights zeal.

"Such citizens have every right to obtain and own firearms for a variety of reasons, whether to hunt, or for personal protection, target shooting or competition," he continued. "Hodgkins, Dearth and other non-resident citizens want to keep their firearms here for use when the come home. However, current federal law makes it impossible for them to exercise their rights like any other citizen. It is fundamentally wrong to penalize American citizens for living overseas."

Source






New York man jailed with a gunshot wound after harassing ex-wife: "A 47-year-old man is in the Greene County jail with a gunshot wound after State Police say he showed up drunk at his estranged wife's home and harassed her and her sister. Troopers got a call around 5:30 Monday evening from a 49-year-old woman who said she had just shot her sister's ex-husband. Police say Geraldine Finelli armed herself with a 20-gauge shotgun after Donald Case Jr. showed up making threats. When Case refused to leave, she fired one round toward the ground, striking Case in the lower leg. He took off, but was stopped by Catskill village police and taken to the hospital for treatment of the wound. When he was released, State Police charged him with second-degree burglary. He was arraigned and jailed on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.


Ohio: Pizza shop owner describes robbery, shooting: "Hayes, 37, was behind the counter Tuesday night when 20-year-old Patrick Finney, wearing an orange ski mask, walked in and pointed a sawed-off shotgun at his head just before 8 p.m. A customer, an older woman from the neighborhood, was seated at the counter watching the Cavaliers game while waiting for a stromboli. ''He said, 'Give me the [expletive] money. This is an [expletive] robbery,'' Hayes said. Hayes cooperated, giving the robber a stack of $10 bills. The robber wanted more and pointed the shotgun within inches of Hayes' head, he said. ''As soon as I gave him the money, I pulled my gun out from my hip, pointed it and fired four shots,'' Hayes said. Finney fell to the floor, then stood back up. Hayes fired three more shots from his Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol. Finney staggered outside and collapsed across the street. The cash he sought was dropped outside. Hayes then called 911. Finney was taken to Akron General Medical Center. He died within the hour. An autopsy on Wednesday showed he was shot multiple times in the torso. The death has been ruled a homicide. Akron police are investigating the shooting, but there is no indication that Hayes, who has been questioned by investigators, acted unlawfully."


South Carolina: Occupant shoots back at invaders: "Deon Shippy and his girlfriend, Casey McKinney, decided to take full advantage of their day off by catching a few extra winks Monday morning. But their peaceful slumber was shattered shortly after 10 a.m. when an armed gunman forced his way into their duplex at 4 Twin Woods Drive near Converse and opened fire. "We were still asleep and I heard a loud bang," Shippy said. "I thought my punching bag had fallen off the porch. Casey said someone was breaking through the door, and I got up and bullets started flying past my head. One hit her in the arm. I told her to hide under the bed and I grabbed my gun and started shooting back." Police responded to the home invasion call at 10:15 a.m. They arrived on the scene and found McKinney bleeding from a bullet wound on her left forearm. She was taken to Spartanburg Regional Hospital for treatment and was later released. Witnesses said the gunman and an accomplice fled the scene in a black 1980s Ford Crown Victoria with dual exhaust. They described the suspects as two black males. Authorities said Shippy and the intruder exchanged more than a dozen shots through a bedroom door before the suspect retreated. Bullet holes were visible on the exterior of the home near Shippy's bedroom window. Shippy said he might have wounded one of the suspects during the melee, but investigators were unable to confirm that Monday."

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