{"id":1001,"date":"2020-12-12T17:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-12T23:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/?p=1001"},"modified":"2020-12-12T17:00:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-12T23:00:54","slug":"lsa-files-federal-lawsuit-on-behalf-of-two-louisiana-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/lsa-files-federal-lawsuit-on-behalf-of-two-louisiana-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"LSA Files Federal Lawsuit on Behalf of two Louisiana Residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Louisiana Shooting Association<\/strong>, the Second Amendment Foundation and the <\/span>Firearms Policy Coalition<\/span> filed a federal lawsuit on November 6, 2020 challenging federal law that prevents young adults from purchasing and owning handguns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The suit was filed on behalf of two private citizens, Caleb Reese and Joseph Granich, both in the affected age group. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Raymond M. DiGuiseppe of Southport, NC, Adam Kraut and Joseph Greenlee from Sacramento, CA, and John W. Dillon from Carlsbad, CA, and George J. Armbruster III from Lafayette, LA. K<\/span>raut is FPC\u2019s Director of Legal Strategy and Greenlee is the group\u2019s Director of Research. The case is known as Reese v. BATF<\/a>.<\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Named as defendants are the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Acting Director Regina Lombardo, and Attorney General William Barr, in their official capacities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither Reese or Granich have criminal records. Both are over age 18, and thus have reached what is generically called the age of majority, which means adulthood. Yet they are denied full rights under the Second Amendment to purchase and own handguns, according to the lawsuit, which states, \u201cThe Handgun Ban prevents (them) from purchasing handguns of the makes and models of (their) choice, with full manufacturer warranty and support\u2026in violation of (their) constitutionally enumerated rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile both of these young men were able to vote in the recent national elections, and they can pursue other activities as legal adults, they are prevented by law from purchasing and using handguns,\u201d said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. \u201cThey can join the military and defend the nation, possibly at the risk of losing their lives. They can enter into contracts, start businesses, get married and even run for office. Preventing them from legally purchasing and owning handguns seems rather silly, and we believe their rights as adult citizens are being violated.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne mission of the Louisiana Shooting Association is to protect Americans\u2019 right to keep and bear arms which necessarily includes their ability to acquire firearms,\u201d said Dan Zelenka, Louisiana Shooting Association\u2019s president. \u201cHandguns are the firearm of choice for self-defense as well as for many types of sport shooting disciplines. Nothing in the Constitution would subject adults under the age of 21 to different rights and protections under the Second Amendment as adults over the age of 21. On behalf of our members who are currently banned under federal law, as well as our younger members who will soon be in that banned age group, the Louisiana Shooting Association is proud to be a part of this effort to stop the federal government from enforcing its unconstitutional ban.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe right to keep and bear arms is not a second-class right, and the law-abiding legal adults the federal government currently bans from purchasing handguns are not second-class people,\u201d said FPC President and FPF Chairman Brandon Combs. \u201cThese adults have the fundamental, individual right to purchase handguns and handgun ammunition for all lawful purposes from the lawful retailer of their choice. If they can be asked to fight and die for our country then they can and must be guaranteed the full protection of the Constitution. FPC is committed to fighting for and protecting the rights of all responsible citizens regardless of their age. FPC will continue to fight forward and restore the Second Amendment throughout the United States in this and other cases.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who must bear all the burdens of being an adult should not be denied the benefits of it, especially when those benefits stem from fundamental liberty interests guaranteed by the Bills of Rights,\u201d said attorney DiGuiseppe. \u201cLaw-abiding adults who are under 21 years of age shoulder the same essential responsibilities as all other adults, and, in the eyes of the Constitution, they have the same fundamenta<\/span>l rights. Yet, the federal government has denied these full-fledged citizens the right to purchase handguns and handgun ammunition, cutting off their ability to acquire the quintessential weapon of self-defense in America. That is unconstitutional. This lawsuit aims to restore the right and ability of these adults to purchase constitutionally protected handguns and ammunition for them in their lawful exercise of their Second Amendment rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAdults over the age of eighteen have the full protection of all rights under the Constitution,\u201d added Kraut. \u201cBut the federal government\u2019s ban singles out their Second Amendment rights for especially unfavorable treatment. And our nation\u2019s history and tradition show that adults under the age of 21 not only have the same Second Amendment rights as those over the age of 21, they were often required to keep and bear arms. We look forward to striking down this unconstitutional ban and providing millions of individuals with access to their constitutional rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the colonial and founding eras, hundreds of laws required 18-to-20-year-olds to own firearms\u2014law applying to both males and females, and laws related and unrelated to militia service,\u201d Greenlee explained. \u201cBy comparison, there were no restrictions whatsoever as to adults in this age group. If we look to the original understanding of the Second Amendment, as the Supreme Court requires, it is clear that 18-to-20-year-olds were fully protected by the right to keep and bear arms. We seek to vindicate that right in this case.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the third federal suit SAF has filed so far this month,\u201d Gottlieb noted. \u201cOther suits include our challenge of New York City\u2019s extremist carry law as well as the state of New Jersey\u2019s Draconian carry permit scheme. This is part of SAF\u2019s effort to win firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time. Our ultimate goal is to get these cases reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Louisiana Shooting Association, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Firearms Policy Coalition filed a federal lawsuit on November 6, 2020 challenging federal law that prevents young adults from purchasing and owning handguns. The suit was filed on behalf of two private citizens, Caleb Reese [Read More]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3558,"featured_media":941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3558"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1001"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1001\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/louisianashooting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}