Pennsylvania Federal Judge Enforces Second Amendment

AmmoLand ^ | 19 October, 2021 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In a significant win for supporters of Second Amendment rights, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted a preliminary injunction order to William Drummond and the Second Amendment Foundation, Inc. on October 13, 2021.

Drummond had sought to open a sportsman’s club at an existing range that had operated as the Greater Pittsburgh Gun Club since the middle 1960s. It consists of 265 acres in Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

In December of 2017, Drummond entered into a lease to operate the club. On February 19, 2018, the Robinson Township Board of Supervisors commenced proceedings to deny Drummond the ability to operate the range, through a change in the zoning ordinance.

The Board denied Drummond’s application for a zoning permit to operate the club. The lawsuit was brought by Drummond, with the aid of the Second Amendment Foundation, claiming the zoning ordinance violated Drummond’s Second Amendment Rights.

The District Court dismissed the lawsuit in January of 2019. The case was appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The Third Circuit vacated the District Court’s dismissal and sent the case back, based on the violation of the Second Amendment by the zoning ordinance.

One of the findings of the court seems of particular significance. From the order:

Although the health, safety, and welfare are substantial government interests, the Township must provide some evidence of how the amendments to the Zoning Ordinance serve those substantial government interests. The government must “persuade us that ‘the recited harms are real, not merely conjectural, and that the regulation will in fact alleviate these harms in a direct and material way.’”

Although the case took most of four years to resolve, this is a very significant win. Those who want to restrict Second Amendment rights must show real evidence of harm,

[pierrem15]

Then I am wrong. That really was remarkably fast.

[marktwain]

I misspoke by a week. The injunction was issued on October 21, not October 13th.