The Second Amendment Foundation Has Filed an Amicus Brief To Fight Against Washington D.C.’s Recent Transit Gun Ban
A representative for the group explains why the ban is unlawful – and how it could hurt private gun owners.
Recently, a District of Columbia (D.C.) resident filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against the city’s recent ban on carrying handguns through its public transportation system. Now, to provide him support, the Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus brief, explaining why the ban isn’t a good thing.
“The District of Columbia’s ban on the carrying of handguns within its public transportation system (the ‘Metro ban’) is flatly unconstitutional under the plain text of the Second Amendment and binding case law,” noted Adam Kraut, who serves as Executive Director for the Second Amendment Foundation.
D.C. had previously passed the ruling, stating that buses and other public transportation are considered “sensitive places” where firearms can be prohibited, mainly because federal employees and school students use them. But the Foundation believes it “misses the mark.”
“Even if this Court were to accept that schools are in fact a ‘sensitive place’,” Kraut says in his brief, “it cannot logically follow to extend the meaning well beyond the schoolhouse walls. To do so, in this context, would render an entire transit system utilized by thousands of other people at all hours of the day a sensitive place simply because children take it to and from school twice a day for limited periods of time.”
“The District can’t be allowed to prevent thousands of people from exercising their right simply because the city isn’t able to set up a dedicated form of transportation for school students,” Kraut continued. “To consider public transportation a ‘sensitive place’ would open Pandora’s Box, enabling the District to restore, in a de facto sense, the very ban struck down by the Supreme Court back in 2008.”
Joining us now is a representative from the Second Amendment Foundation, to talk further about this brief.
Q&A:
- What reasoning do you believe the district has in placing the gun ban in place? Are they concerned with the active shooter events that have been happening lately, or is it something else?
- How does the ban hurt private gun owners? Mainly the way it affects Constitutional-Carry citizens, or something else?
- Why do you think the city deemed public transportation “sensitive places” when they indicate anything but with their hustle-and-bustle nature? Is it mainly due to the large amount of people that use them regularly?
- What laws do you think the District of Columbia should be focusing on instead of a full-blown ban on guns in particular places? If you were able to put together such a law, how would you go about it?
- Where can we learn more about the Second Amendment Foundation and its members?
- Those interested can visit http://www.saf.org/.
Second Amendment Foundation spokespersons available to be your guest:
ABOUT ADAM KRAUT (in Eastern time)
Adam Kraut serves as Executive Director for the Second Amendment Foundation. He brings almost a decade of experience in the Second Amendment realm as a litigator and educator. Throughout his career, Kraut has represented individuals, companies, and institutional plaintiffs in state and federal litigation and regulatory matters.
ABOUT CHRIS CHENG (In Pacific Time)
Chris Cheng serves on the advisory council to the Second Amendment Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He is the History Channel’s Top Shot Season 4 Champion and author of the book “Shoot to Win.” Cheng is an Asian D&I advocate in the gun community, a former Google employee who went from self-taught amateur to pro shooter.
ABOUT CAM EDWARDS (In Eastern Time)
Cam Edwards is the editor at Bearing Arms-dot-com and hosts the popular podcast Cam & Company that focuses on Second Amendment news and information. Cam is originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has worked in radio, television, and online media for over two decades. He currently lives on a small farm with his family near Farmville, Virginia, and is a member of the board of Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms.
ABOUT MARK WALTERS (in Eastern Time):
Mark Walters is a member of the board of directors for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. As a nationally syndicated host of two talk radio programs, Armed American Radio and Armed American Radio’s Daily Defense, Mark is heard on hundreds of stations weekly across the country. Mark is the co-founder of Armed American News and the recipient of the 2015 “Gun Rights Defender of the Year award.” In addition, Mark Walters is co-author of three books, including Lessons from Armed America, Lessons from Unarmed America, and Grilling While Armed.
ABOUT LEE WILLIAMS (In Eastern Time)
Lee Williams is also known as The Gun Writer and has been writing about the Second Amendment, firearms, the firearms industry, and the gun culture for more than ten years. He is the Chief Editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Reporting Project and is a frequent contributor to Ammoland News and Armed American Radio. In addition, Lee serves as a board member of Florida Carry, Inc. He was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming a newspaper editor, Lee was an investigative reporter in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. Lee has earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter and three medals of valor as a police officer.
ABOUT DAVE WORKMAN (In Pacific Time):
Dave Workman is an award-winning career journalist and senior editor of TheGunMag.com. He writes for Liberty Park Press, Conservative Firing Line, and is communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He has authored Op-Ed pieces in several major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and co-authored seven books with Second Amendment Foundation Alan Gottlieb. Workman’s beat is firearms, from politics to the outdoors. He is widely considered an authority on firearms, concealed carry, and gun politics.
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 700,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
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