Gun free school zone challenge fails in California(WI)

jsonline.com ^ | 13 April, 2011 | Bruce Vielmetti

[marktwain]

A federal judge in California has dismissed a challenge to that state's ban on most guns within 1,000 feet of schools, a ruling which is likely to have influence on similar challenge pending in Wisconsin.

Kevin Hall, who lives within 1,000 feet of a school in San Francisco, had requested an exemption from superintendent Carlos Garcia to allow Hall to openly carry a gun outside his home. It was denied, and Hall sued, claiming the denial infringed his Second Amendment rights.

But U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg last monthgranted the superintendent's motion for judgment on the pleadings. Seeborg found that despite language supporting gun rights in two major U.S. Supreme Court cases, both opinions made clear that they were not undoing all gun restrictions.

"When it referred to schools as sensitive places, the Supreme Court was certainly cognizant of the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act, which imposes criminal penalties for possession of a firearm within 1000 feet of school grounds," Seeborg wrote.

"As a starting point, restricting possession of firearms in school zones does not burden the core 'right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home,'" Seeborg went on, quoting the Supreme Court's Heller decision.

Hall filed his lawsuit without the aid of a lawyer. In the case pending in Milwaukee federal court, the group Wisconsin Carry, Inc. and individual plaintiffs are represented by a Georgia lawyer who specializes in gun rights litigation. They contend Wisconsin's Gun Free School Zone unconstitutionally overbroad, particularly in cities where the number and location of schools mean the 1,000 foot limit effectively bans guns in large areas.

[marktwain]

It is *not* a good idea for everyone who thinks he has a second amendment case, to try to win it in federal court. This is a job for legal experts who know the ropes. Trying to do this yourself can result in far more harm than good, much like do it yourself brain surgery.

[Smogger]

Damn. I just realized I am breaking another law. Sigh..

[William Tell]

Perhaps it would have been useful if the judge had explained just how many of our unalienable rights may be restricted based on proximity to some other activity and what maximum distance would be permitted.

For example, would it be Constitutional to prohibit freedom of expression within 50,000 feet of a school? We wouldn't want our school children hearing opinions which contradict the official indoctrination.