High court to hear former University of Kentucky student's appeal in gun case

The Lexington Herald Leader (Ky.) ^ | Apr 2, 2011 | Jennifer Hewlett

[neverdem]

jhewlett@herald-leader.com

The Kentucky Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a former University of Kentucky graduate student and employee who sued UK after he was fired for having a gun in his car while it was parked on school property.

The lawsuit was filed in January 2010 by Michael Mitchell, who was fired as an anesthesia assistant at the UK Chandler Medical Center in April 2009, after he told UK officials he had a concealed-carry permit for a firearm that he kept in his vehicle. Mitchell's vehicle was parked in a lot near Commonwealth Stadium.

In October, Fayette Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine dismissed Mitchell's suit.

Mitchell appealed the dismissal the following month and asked that the case be reviewed immediately by the state Supreme Court because it involved the right to bear arms, which is granted by the state and U.S. constitutions.

The state's highest court granted a motion to move the case from the state Court of Appeals in March.

[neverdem]

If he loses at the Kentucky Supreme Court, I won't be surprised if he hires Alan Gura to take it to the US Supreme Court. Gura was the lead attorney in the Heller and McDonald decisions that affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms.

[OneWingedShark]

Kentucky Constitution

Article 1, Section 1

All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned:

• First: The right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties.
• Second: The right of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of their consciences.
• Third: The right of seeking and pursuing their safety and happiness.
• Fourth: The right of freely communicating their thoughts and opinions.
• Fifth: The right of acquiring and protecting property.
• Sixth: The right of assembling together in a peaceable manner for their common good, and of applying to those invested with the power of government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by petition, address or remonstrance.
• Seventh: The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and of the State, subject to the power of the General Assembly to enact laws to prevent persons from carrying concealed weapons.

Text as Ratified on: August 3, 1891, and revised September 28, 1891.

The only state laws regarding arms, according to the underlined portion, that are legitimate are those concerning concealed carry; a weapon left in a vehicle is not being carried and therefore cannot be subject to the General Assembly,

[LonePalm]

Mitchell appealed the dismissal the following month and asked that the case be reviewed immediately by the state Supreme Court because it involved the right to bear arms, which is granted by the state and U.S. constitutions.

The right is not granted by the federal and state constitutions. It is affirmed.

Public officials that are afraid of being surrounded by armed constituents are public officials the constituents need to be armed against.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[editor-surveyor]

The NRA is going to take out a contract on Gura; he’s destroying all their fund rasing fodder!