Posted on 08/27/2014 3:17:31 PM PDT by marktwain
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana has struck down the City of Baton Rouge's ban (pdf) on the possession of firearms or other weapons in places that sell alcohol, and their parking lots. The lawsuit was filed under Section 1983. The court granted default judgment to the plaintiff. A permanent injunction was ordered against enforcement of the ordinance, which was passed in 2012. A hearing to determine the amount of damages will be held on October 23, 2014.
The facts are clear and undisputed. On October 13, 2012, at about 1:35 a.m., Earnest Taylor was pulled over coming out of Romeo's Lounge parking lot. He was arrested for the possession of two rifles in the back of his car, a HiPoint 9mm carbine, and a Squires Bingham .22. When he informed the officers that he legally possessed the rifles, he was told that there was a "new law". Later the police searched the trunk of his vehicle and found a Yugo 59/66 SKS-type rifle which was also confiscated.
Taylor filed suit under 42 U.S.C section 1983. When the City failed to respond after several months, he filed for default judgment. While the lawsuit also cited the claimed damages under the 4th, 5th, and 14th amendments, and under the Louisiana Constitution, the Court only considered the second amendment claims.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch
I do carry where alcohol is served if it falls under the 51% rule in Texas. I do not carry if I have had a drink or intend to have a drink.
That’s pretty much my arrangement too. Just being there - walking in and sitting down, passing through, using their rest room or their parking lot - these don’t pose a threat to anyone. Drinking is a whole different thing. I don’t and I don’t know any CCW holder who does.
“This is the first case that I can recall where a court ruled that civil rights were violated under 42 U.S.C section 1983.”
Should have been:
This is the first case that I can recall where a court ruled that second amendment civil rights were violated under 42 U.S.C section 1983.
me too. i carry at home and put my weapon up if i am going to have more than 1 glass of wine with dinner. never carry and drink when out, even a glass at dinner.
Yep. It isn’t that you’re going to go on a drunken spree and shoot anyone. What it is, is that if you have to use your firearm the perp’s family WILL sue, and the first question their lawyer asks you in court is “had you been drinking?” You will never win that one.
“I carry where alcohol is served if it falls under the 51% rule in Texas. I do not carry if I have had a drink or intend to have a drink.”
The same law and personal policy for me in Illinois. Waiting for my wife so we can go out tonight. I am designated driver and CCW.
There may be a small story behind the story here. For a long time, police have staked out bars, figuring they could pick up easy DUIs from people leaving the bar.
However, both bar owners and courts are uneasy with this, because it made it “too easy” for cops, with them fabricating probable cause for stops, and could be misused against a single bar the cop didn’t like, and put it out of business.
So often there is a ritual involved to do it by the numbers.
http://www.nola.com/crime/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2014/08/baton_rouge_ban_of_guns_in_bar.html
There are several more details here. For example, the Baton Rouge ordinance also prohibited weapons in places that “sold” alcohol, not just served it. Which meant grocery stores and other businesses.
Also, it seems the city’s lawyer was demoted for doing a poor job on the case, so she is suing the city as well.
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