Posted on 02/04/2010 8:27:01 AM PST by neverdem
Newark Housing Authority withdraws gun ban
Newark Housing Authority residents will now be allowed to possess firearms in their homes, as long as they comply with applicable state and federal law.
By Lee Williams
A residents’ handbook containing rules and regulations for everyone living in property operated by the Newark Housing Authority was “misleading,” according to Rob Detwiler, who chairs the authority’s Board of Commissioners.
A section in the handbook requiring that tenants must “not possess explosives, firearms or flammable material on NHA’s property,” will be removed, Detwiler told the Caesar Rodney Institute Wednesday morning.
Detwiler, who is nearing the end of his six-year term as commissioner, said NHA executive director Marene Jordan is “looking to change the pamphlet a soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Detwiler said, NHA residents may possess firearms, “as long as they’re legal.”
“It should be an absolute moot issue in the near future,” Detwiler said. “The handbook was misleading. I think the previous executive director made up that policy. I do believe it is my constitutional right [to own firearms]. I support my Constitution.”
Jordan did not immediately return calls seeking comment Gun bans at the Newark Housing Authority, along with the Delaware State Housing Authority and those in Wilmington and Dover are the subject of an ongoing series by the Caesar Rodney Institute.
After the series was published, the National Rifle Association informed the housing authorities they would take legal action if the unconstitutional gun bans were not immediately withdrawn.
“It has been brought to our attention by members of the National Rifle Association and by the Caesar Rodney Institute that the Dover Housing Authority, Newark Housing Authority, and Wilmington Housing Authority contain lease provisions that prohibit a resident from possessing a firearm. Such a restriction is Unconstitutional,” NRA General Counsel Robert Dowlut said Monday in letters sent to the executive directors of the housing authorities that operate their own low-income housing in Delaware.
The Newark Housing Authority is the first to withdraw its ban, rather than face litigation from the NRA. Reaction to the NHA’s decision was swift.
“Obviously I am very pleased to learn that the Newark Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners has reconsidered its ban on the otherwise lawful ownership and possession of firearms within their public housing properties. They are to be congratulated for doing the right thing by lifting their ban and restoring their residents to full citizenship,” said Dover attorney John Sigler, a CRI board member and former NRA president.
John Thompson, president of the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, the state NRA affiliate, said that the DSSA is “very pleased the Newark Housing Authority responded in a positive fashion to the information that was presented.”
“We look forward to the other agencies cooperating as well,” Thompson said.
Sigler said the Newark Housing Authority and its Board of Commissioners now serve as an example to the other three housing authorities of how responsible public figures can be informed of a problem by an outside source and then work together to resolve that problem. “Newark did the right thing for their residents and for the taxpayers whose monies support the Newark Housing Authority,” Sigler said. “By acting responsibly and quickly to resolve this issue, the Newark Housing Authority’s Board of Commissions has saved the taxpayers the expense of attempting to defend an indefensible position in court. Now it is time for the Wilmington Housing Authority, the Dover Housing Authority and the Delaware State Housing Authority to follow Newark’s lead.”
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at (302) 242-9272 or lee@caesarrodney.org
The Caesar Rodney Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan research and educational organization and is committed to being a catalyst for improved performance, accountability, and efficiency in Delaware government.
© Copyright Feb.3, 2010 by the Caesar Rodney Institute
I had to manually convert this portable data file, PDF, to the HTML format. So I'm responsible for any formatting errors.
....good call...law abiding folks down in the projects should have the legal means to defend themselves from thugs.
...with the growth of urban crime the whole attitude towards guns is changing...people are concerned and taking action to defend themselves...crime has made the Second Amendment stronger now than ever.
My first reaction was “Wow, this is hugh!” — until I saw that your post is about Newark, DELAWARE ....
I was thinking the same. I thought OMG NJ has really lost it now. I avoid Newark NJ as much as possible.
Over a decade ago Mayor Daley imposed almost an exact Gun Ban on all residents living in *his* Chicago Housing Authority apartments. Naturally he Chicago was sued but he Chicago won in Federal Court and again in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. It never went further (to SCOTUS).
Basically the ruling was that once you agree to live in gubmint buildings, the gubmint sets the conditions and if one of them is NO GUNS, you've agreed to that. You have waived your 2nd Amendment Right. [This pertained to Rifles & Shotguns, as handguns were slowly 'banned by regulation' starting in 1984(1).
This ruling has always particularly ticked me off. As the LAW ABIDING people living there are the ones who need the means to self-protection the most. 'The Projects' are 100% Black and controlled by gangs. Even the separate buildings in a project are controlled by rival gangs.
(1) Existing ones were allowed to be registered but no new ones would be accepted. Over time the gun owners moved or died, registrations fell then wha-la, no more 'legal' handguns in Chicago were owned by the peasants.
Over a decade ago Mayor Daley imposed almost an exact Gun Ban on all residents living in *his* Chicago Housing Authority apartments. Naturally he Chicago was sued but he Chicago won in Federal Court and again in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. It never went further (to SCOTUS).
Basically the ruling was that once you agree to live in gubmint buildings, the gubmint sets the conditions and if one of them is NO GUNS, you've agreed to that. You have waived your 2nd Amendment Right. [This pertained to Rifles & Shotguns, as handguns were slowly 'banned by regulation' starting in 1984(1).
This ruling has always particularly ticked me off. As the LAW ABIDING people living there are the ones who need the means to self-protection the most. 'The Projects' are 100% Black and controlled by gangs. Even the separate buildings in a project are controlled by rival gangs.
(1) Existing ones were allowed to be registered but no new ones would be accepted. Over time the gun owners moved or died, registrations fell then wha-la, no more 'legal' handguns in Chicago were owned by the peasants.
Just to let you know, it's not "wha-la", it's "voila".
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