Search found 3 matches

by tx85
Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:33 am
Forum: The Crime Blotter
Topic: MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies
Replies: 97
Views: 22448

Re: MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies

Txtension wrote:I decided not to continue on half-cocked and do some reading, and I found this, which appears to support my point (That USC 18 922 doesn't apply to Mr.Castille).
...The burden on Wilson’s core Second Amendment right is not severe. Title 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(3), 27 C.F.R. § 478.11, and the Open Letter bar only the sale of firearms to Wilson–not her possession of firearms. Wilson could have amassed legal firearms before acquiring a registry card, and 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(3), 27 C.F.R. § 478.11, and the Open Letter would WILSON V. LYNCH 15 not impede her right to keep her firearms or to use them to protect herself and her home.
No, Wilson v. Lynch doesn't support your point. In the part you quoted the court is referring specifically to (d)(3), not the entire § 922. Why doesn't the statement consider (g)(3)? Because they ruled that the plaintiff didn't have standing to challenge the prohibition on possession by unlawful drug users. When they say that "Wilson could have amassed legal firearms before acquiring a registry card" that is in the context of the court accepting as true plaintiff's claim that she doesn't actually use illegal drugs (but merely has a medical marijuana card that she doesn't use):
The panel held that plaintiff’s Second Amendment claims did not fall within the direct scope of United States v. Dugan, 657 F.3d 998 (9th Cir. 2011), which held that the Second Amendment does not protect the rights of unlawful drug users to bear arms. Taking plaintiff’s allegations in her first amended complaint as true – that she chose not to use medical marijuana – the panel concluded that plaintiff was not actually an unlawful drug user.
Standing requires, among other elements, a “concrete and particularized” injury that is “actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical.” Lujan v Defs. of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555, 560 (1992) (internal quotation marks omitted). Section 922(g)(3) criminalizes possession or receipt of a firearm by a unlawful drug user or a person addicted to a controlled substance. Wilson has not alleged that she is an unlawful drug user or that she is addicted to any controlled substance. Nor has she alleged that she possessed or received a firearm. Accordingly, Wilson has not alleged that § 922(g)(3) has injured her in any way. For the same reasons, she also has not shown a “genuine threat of imminent prosecution” under § 922(g)(3), as is generally required of plaintiffs raising pre-enforcement challenges to criminal statutes outside the First Amendment context. San Diego Cty. Gun Rights Comm. v. Reno, 98 F.3d 1121, 1126 (9th Cir. 1996) (internal quotation marks omitted). Accordingly, we affirm on the ground of lack of standing the district court’s dismissal of Wilson’s claims concerning § 922(g)(3).
So far, every Circuit Court that has actually reached the merits of (g)(3) has upheld it as constitutional:

U.S. v. Yancey (2010, 7th Circuit):
Matthew Yancey pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as an unlawful user of marijuana but reserved the right to argue on appeal that the offense of conviction, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), violates the Second Amendment as interpreted in District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008). We conclude that the statute is constitutional and affirm Yancey's conviction.
U.S. v. Seay (2010, 8th Circuit):
Andrew Seay was indicted and pled guilty to possession of a firearm while being an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(3) and 924(a)(2), and was sentenced by the district court to nine months imprisonment. Seay filed this timely appeal, arguing that the government unnecessarily delayed his indictment and that his conviction is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The government moved to dismiss Seay's appeal on the grounds that Seay waived his appeal rights by pleading guilty. We grant the government's motion in part, deny it in part, and affirm Seay's conviction.
U.S. v. Dugan (2011, 9th Circuit):
Moreover, unlike people who have been convicted of a felony or committed to a mental institution and so face a lifetime ban, an unlawful drug user may regain his right to possess a firearm simply by ending his drug abuse. The restriction in § 922(g)(3) is far less onerous than those affecting felons and the mentally ill. Yancey, 621 F.3d at 686–87. Because Congress may constitutionally deprive felons and mentally ill people of the right to possess and carry weapons, we conclude that Congress may also prohibit illegal drug users from possessing firearms.
U.S. v. Carter (2014, 4th Circuit):
Following his conviction and sentencing for possessing two firearms while being an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance (marijuana), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), Benjamin Carter appealed, contending that § 922(g)(3) infringed on his right to bear arms, in violation of the Second Amendment. We vacated the judgment and remanded the case to the district court to allow the government to substantiate the fit between § 922(g)(3) and the government's important interest in protecting the community from gun violence.

See United States v. Carter ("Carter I"), 669 F.3d 411 (4th Cir.2012). After taking evidence from both sides, the district court held that the government had carried its burden in justifying the regulation of guns under § 922(g)(3), and Carter filed this second appeal.

Because we agree with the district court that the government adequately demonstrated a reasonable fit between its important interest in protecting the community from gun violence and § 922(g)(3), which disarms unlawful drug users and addicts, we now affirm.
by tx85
Fri Jun 16, 2017 11:58 pm
Forum: The Crime Blotter
Topic: MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies
Replies: 97
Views: 22448

Re: MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies

From the ATF website:
The Gun Control Act (GCA), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition, to include any person:

* convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
* who is a fugitive from justice;
* who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. § 802);
...
ATF Open Letter:
any person who uses or is addicted to marijuana, regardless of whether his or her State has passed legislation authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance, and is prohibited by Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition
Txtension wrote:I think you are intimating that gun ownership equals affecting* interstate commerce.
Not ownership, but possession. And it's not me, but court precedent that says that. The bar for something affecting interstate commerce is incredibly low.
Txtension wrote:But in perpetuity as long as one simply owns a firearm? Wasn't the original GFSZ struck down with similar logic?
The original GFSZ was struck down because it didn't limit which guns it applied to. The revised version added "has moved in or otherwise affects interstate commerce" and has so far been upheld by the courts that have considered it. That's basically the magical phrase that makes the Supreme Court uphold a federal regulation or ban. It's also the legal basis for the National Concealed Carry Reciprocity bill (pretty much every gun is made of parts or materials that have moved in interstate commerce, so the Federal Government can require states to let you carry that gun under the state's existing carry law).
by tx85
Fri Jun 16, 2017 10:59 pm
Forum: The Crime Blotter
Topic: MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies
Replies: 97
Views: 22448

Re: MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies

Not that this justifies the cop's actions, but Mr. Castile wasn't actually a legal gun owner as media outlets continue to claim even today. His state permit to carry is irrelevant because he was prohibited by federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3)) from possessing guns.
NYTimes wrote:Earl Gray, a lawyer for Officer Yanez, questioned Ms. Reynolds at length about her marijuana use. Ms. Reynolds said she and Mr. Castile smoked marijuana daily, and had done so for years. She admitted that there was marijuana in the car at the time Officer Yanez pulled them over, but she said they had not been smoking.
Progressives attacked the NRA after this incident happened and they are attacking the NRA again today for "not standing up for licensed gun owner Mr. Castile".

Progressives: "the NRA is extremist!"
Also progressives: "why isn't the NRA standing up for an illegal drug user who illegally possessed a gun?!"

Return to “MN: Police officer shoots kills CHL in traffic stop streamed live on Facebook as he dies”