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tangent4ronpaul
03-21-2013, 04:21 PM
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/21/us-usa-guns-newyork-idUSBRE92K19S20130321

The National Rifle Association's affiliate in New York filed a lawsuit on Thursday challenging the state's new gun control measures, passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

The state Rifle & Pistol Association charged that New York's laws banning assault weapons and limiting the size of ammunition magazines violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms.

The lawsuit, filed in Buffalo federal court, also alleged that the law's "radically broadened" definition of assault weapons is unconstitutionally vague.

"This is an action to vindicate the right of the people of the State of New York to keep and bear arms," the lawsuit said.

It comes on the same week that backers of gun control in the Senate dropped their bid to re-impose a federal ban on assault weapons, a measure that had faced considerable opposition in both houses of Congress.

Democratic lawmakers instead opted to scale back White House proposals for sweeping gun-control measures, saying they would focus on a bill that penalize "straw purchasers" who help criminals to avoid background checks. That measure has broader support in Congress.

New York's gun control measures, known as the SAFE Act, were enacted in January, making New York the first state to pass tougher laws following the December 14 mass shooting in Newtown that left 20 children and six adults dead as well as the shooter.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office will defend the law in court, declined to comment on the lawsuit but said in a statement that the law makes New Yorkers safer while "ensuring constitutional protections to responsible gun owners."

A spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who signed the law after the state legislature passed it within hours of its introduction, did not immediately return a request for comment.

The lawsuit is one of a handful of court challenges to the new regulations. But Thursday's complaint marks the first time that a group officially linked to the powerful NRA has weighed in on New York's new law.

Other plaintiffs in the case include gun dealers, other gun owner groups and several individual gun owners.

In addition to Second Amendment claims, the lawsuit alleged that the SAFE Act violated equal protection rights by allowing owners to load 10 rounds of ammunition into their guns at shooting ranges or in competition while limiting them to seven rounds when at home.

It also claimed that the law violates interstate commerce protections by requiring all gun sales to be made by sellers who are licensed and based in New York, thereby excluding out-of-state dealers.

The lawsuit was filed on the same day that Vice President Joseph Biden, who has led the Obama administration's effort to pass new federal gun control measures, joined New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at City Hall to call on Congress to adopt the president's proposals.

Colorado became the second state this week to pass stricter gun control laws since Newtown, expanding background checks and banning magazines with more than 15 rounds.

-t

tangent4ronpaul
03-22-2013, 02:23 AM
NRA joins lawsuit challenging New York's gun control law

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/22/nra-joins-lawsuit-challenging-new-york-gun-control-law/#ixzz2OFrIacUq

ALBANY, N.Y. – The National Rifle Association on Thursday joined the the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, other sportsmen's groups, firearms businesses and individual gun owners in a lawsuit challenging the state's strict new gun control law.

The federal suit, filed in Buffalo, said the law violates the constitutional rights of "law-abiding citizens to keep commonly possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes."

In announcing the NRA's support for the lawsuit, Chris Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo "usurped the legislative and democratic process" in passing the measures without sufficient input from the public.

“Despite the wishes of Governor Cuomo, law-abiding citizens have a fundamental right to keep commonly possessed firearms for defense of themselves and their families and for other lawful purposes including the enjoyment of New York’s rich hunting and sporting heritage,” Cox said in a news release.

The challenge takes aim at two key provisions of the law: a lower limit on magazine capacity and an expansion of the state's assault weapons ban to include some popular and formerly legal semi-automatic rifles.

The law pushed through by Cuomo on Jan. 15 -- the first new gun restrictions in the nation following the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. -- also requires registration of an estimated 1 million older guns.

Other provisions require five-year renewals of handgun licenses statewide, direct mental health professionals to notify authorities of patients deemed likely to seriously hurt themselves or others and require federal background checks for private gun sales in New York. It will require registration of ammunition sellers and buyers.

The law also reduces the size of legal magazines from 10 bullets to seven, though lawmakers and Cuomo have recently proposed amending that.

The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, the lead plaintiff and NRA affiliate, said it was bringing the suit on behalf of its 45,000 members. President Tom King has estimated there are about 4.75 million gun owners among New York's 19 million residents. Other plaintiffs include the Westchester County Firearms Owners Association, Beikrich Ammunition Corp., Blueline Tactical & Police Supply, gun manufacturer Bedell Custom and the Sportsmen's Association for Firearms Education.

"Criminals have and use magazines without any limitation in capacity. The act's provisions on magazines put law-abiding citizens at a grave disadvantage to criminals, who will not comply with the seven-round limit," the suit said. Likewise, it said the ban on assault weapons, "a pejorative term," is being broadened "to describe countless numbers of rifles, handguns and shotguns that were commonly possessed under prior law."

The suit seeks a ruling that both provisions violate the constitution's Second Amendment right to bear arms and the 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the laws as well as injunctions stopping enforcement. The suit does not challenge many other provisions, including stronger penalties for gun crimes.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, named along with Cuomo as a defendant, said Thursday the law is "making New York communities safer, while ensuring constitutional protections to responsible gun owners. My office will continue to aggressively defend the protections embodied in the law because every New Yorker deserves to live in a safe neighborhood free from the threat of gun violence," he said.

-t