yellowfin
Pro 2A Gastronome
http://www.calgunsfoundation.org/news.html
This case takes on the blatantly ugly side of May [When Hell Freezes Over Unless You're Rich and/or I Like You] Issue: VIP selective treatment and willful withholding of carry rights purely based on political whim and ego stroking with political power. The "L'etat c'est moi" complex of sheriffs, judges, mayors, etc. is now being officially put on trial with the 14th Amendment's equal protection provisions applied to the 2nd Amendment. It's pretty obvious that denial of carry rights isn't about fear or concerns for public safety--for whatever stupid reason we've entertained that as a plausible argument previously--so now we have a suit that lets the cat out of the bag, bringing to light the obvious truth that it's all about political favoritism and elitism. This suit demands that it stop and that an elected official is personally accountable for it, not able to hide behind a badge or robe.
Naturally we need this to happen everywhere we have carry rights lawsuits in progress as a followup to put "THIS MEANS YOU, JUDGE/SHERIFF/SUPERINTENDENT" on them and to stop any further gaming of the law once we get right to carry officially set in stone.
SAN JOSE, CA – Tom Scocca, The Calguns Foundation, and The Madison Society have filed a lawsuit seeking to compel Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith to respect the equal protection rights of carry license applicants and conform her carry license policies to state law.
Tom Scocca is a Director of Security Risk Management at a large Silicon Valley semiconductor business. Mr. Scocca has "good cause" that is directly comparable to many of the 70 applicants who have successfully received carry permits in Santa Clara County. Further, Mr. Scocca experienced first hand the effect of unlawful policies that members of Calguns Foundation and The Madison Society experience when attempting to apply for a carry permit from Sheriff Smith.
Tom Scocca faces real threats in performing his job. His work requires him to investigate intellectual property compromise and the theft of valuable company property. Though he is licensed by the state of California to openly carry a firearm, he needs to be able to investigate without raising suspicion. “I've been in law enforcement in the past and am trusted by California to carry a loaded firearm,” Scocca said. “However, even though my good cause is equal to or more worthy than many other applicants who have had their licenses issued, Sheriff Smith arbitrarily denied my application.”
Attorney Don Kilmer, representing the plaintiffs in this case, said, “It’s a shame that Sheriff Smith doesn't take the Constitution seriously. This case really isn't about guns, it is about treating citizens fairly and equally while following California Law.”
“Sheriff Smith has to implement a carry license application process that follows California law and treats similarly situated applicants equally,” said Gene Hoffman, Chairman of The Calguns Foundation. “It is especially troubling that a Sheriff would operate a license process in ignorance of state law and binding court precedent.”
The Calguns Foundation (www.calgunsfoundation.org) is a non-profit legal defense fund for California gun owners. The Calguns Foundation works to educate government and the public and protect the rights of individuals to own and lawfully use firearms in California.
The Madison Society (www.madison-society.org) promotes and preserves the Constitution of the United states through education and litigation. The Madison Society specifically focuses it's litigation efforts challenging laws, ordinances, regulations, and any other restrictions and infringements on the right of citizens to "keep and bear arms."
A copy of the complaint is available:
http://www.archive.org/download/gov.uscourts.cand.238467/gov.uscourts.cand.238467.1.0.pdf
Mr. Scocca, CGF, Madison, and Don Kilmer would like to thank Preston Guillory for his assistance in developing this case.
This case takes on the blatantly ugly side of May [When Hell Freezes Over Unless You're Rich and/or I Like You] Issue: VIP selective treatment and willful withholding of carry rights purely based on political whim and ego stroking with political power. The "L'etat c'est moi" complex of sheriffs, judges, mayors, etc. is now being officially put on trial with the 14th Amendment's equal protection provisions applied to the 2nd Amendment. It's pretty obvious that denial of carry rights isn't about fear or concerns for public safety--for whatever stupid reason we've entertained that as a plausible argument previously--so now we have a suit that lets the cat out of the bag, bringing to light the obvious truth that it's all about political favoritism and elitism. This suit demands that it stop and that an elected official is personally accountable for it, not able to hide behind a badge or robe.
Naturally we need this to happen everywhere we have carry rights lawsuits in progress as a followup to put "THIS MEANS YOU, JUDGE/SHERIFF/SUPERINTENDENT" on them and to stop any further gaming of the law once we get right to carry officially set in stone.