US appeals court deems gun law unconstitutional

[RamRoddoc]

Another small victory.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/19/us-appeals-court-deems-gun-law-unconstitutional/?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obinsite

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati deemed a law unconstitutional that kept a Michigan man who was committed to a mental institution from owning a gun.

The three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a federal ban on gun ownership for those who have been committed to a mental institution violated the Second Amendment rights of 73-year-old Clifford Charles Tyler.

Tyler attempted to buy a gun and was denied on the grounds that he had been committed to a mental institution in 1986 after suffering emotional problems stemming from a divorce. He was only in there for a month.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-appeals-court-expands-gun-rights-1418939537?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird

The federal government defunded its “relief from disabilities” program in 1992, said the opinion. Since 2008, states have been able to get federal grants to set up their own programs. But such programs are voluntary on the part of the states, and Michigan has yet to set one up, leaving Mr. Tyler without a venue by which to prove that his “disability” no longer should apply.

In other words, wrote Judge Boggs: “[W]hether Tyler may exercise his right to bear arms depends on whether his state of residence has chosen to accept the carrot of federal grant money and has implemented a relief program.… An individual’s ability to exercise a fundamental right necessary to our system of ordered liberty cannot turn on such a distinction.”

Adam Winkler, a Second Amendment expert and law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said the ruling could give momentum to the gun-rights movement. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see legal challenges to other parts of the [federal gun] law now,” he said.

Mr. Winkler also said the ruling could prompt Republicans in Congress to move to set up a new “relief from disabilities” program that would allow people to prove they are fit to own guns.

 

[spencer60]

Yup. What's interesting is that this could lead to 'strict scrutiny' for the Second Amendment in the future. That would be a watershed day... almost as key as Heller was.

 

[dougiemac]

And Lax said Ohio was anti gun. Ha!

 

[Ken Ford]

Sweet!

 

[Bear44]

I want to see a serious challenge to the class 3 laws.

 

[tmoore912]

Appeals court: Gun control must meet toughest test

http://www.scotusblog.com/2014/12/appeals-court-gun-control-must-meet-toughest-test/

Breaking ranks with other federal appeals courts, and probably setting up a major test case for the Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that laws imposing controls on the personal right to have a gun must satisfy the most rigorous constitutional test. And, in another split with other courts, it was the first to strike down a federal gun law under the Constitution’s Second Amendment as expanded by the Supreme Court six years ago.

Since the Justices’ ruling in 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller, finding in the Second Amendment a guarantee of a right to have a gun for personal use, at least in some circumstances, federal courts have struggled with how to apply that ruling in specific cases testing specific gun laws. Before the Sixth Circuit ruled, however, none had declared that gun laws should be judged by a “strict scrutiny” test.

Because of the brief stay in that institution, however, he is barred for life from having a gun, under the federal law that the Sixth Circuit has now nullified because it failed the “strict scrutiny” test.

The Sixth Circuit, in the course of its opinion on the specific ban, also examined a series of other federal laws that impose flat bans on specific groups, and suggested that some of those may be able to pass the “strict scrutiny” test — such as, for example, those individuals convicted of serious crimes and those who are actually mentally ill at this time.

 

[spencer60]

And Lax said Ohio was anti gun. Ha!

Sadly, they do have some of the worst gun & self defense laws in the US... Not quite NY or CA, but some pretty bad ones.

 

[mkdhotrod]

I thought the court of appeals was merely a "yes this looks like a good decision" or "no the lower court made an error" three federal courts really hold light merit in the overall picture. And our ****ty supreme court would never hear a 2A case. Like they never want to hear any constitutional cases. Its like they're afraid to due their duty and invoke their Authori-tay.

 

[calebp]

Judges counting arbitrary laws arbitrary is a win any day in my book!

 

[heavyd]

I want to see a serious challenge to the class 3 laws.

You and me both, brother man.