SAF Cheers Federal Court Rejection of Bloomberg Lawsuit

BELLEVUE, Wash. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Second Amendment Foundation said today's dismissal of a lawsuit filed against the firearms industry by anti-gun New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg should send a clear message that "courthouse demagoguery and harassment of law-abiding business is not the responsible way to fight crime."
he 2-1 opinion, written by U.S. Appeals Court Judge Robert J. Miner, affirms the constitutionality of the 2005 Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. It overturns a lower court ruling by activist federal judge Jack B. Weinstein, explaining that he should have dismissed the case instead of allowing it to go forward.
"Today's ruling is clearly a defeat for Michael Bloomberg," said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. "The law trumps a billionaire's arrogance and a federal judge's long standing anti-gun activism. It is time for Bloomberg to grow up, and for Weinstein to step down.
"Judge Weinstein should certainly step aside from a case that will come before the court shortly on Bloomberg's harassment lawsuit of firearms dealers in other states," he added.
Gottlieb called the Miner ruling a clear victory for America's politically demonized firearms industry, and he congratulated gun makers and the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
"This ruling should also send a message to anti-gun extremist groups like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence that bankrolling frivolous junk lawsuits in an attempt to bankrupt a heavily-regulated, lawful industry must cease," Gottlieb observed. "Abusing the legal system to harass gun makers may grab a few cheap headlines, but what does it really accomplish? Criminals still commit crimes with guns they get illegally from illicit sources.
"Legal theatrics that deflect attention from the failure of Bloomberg's administration to prevent crime while pursuing an agenda of victim disarmament are all flash and no substance," Gottlieb concluded, "and the people know it. Judging from today's appeals court ruling, so do the courts."
The Second Amendment Foundation (http://www.saf.org/) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
Source: Second Amendment Foundation; Web Site: http://www.saf.org/

Copyright 1999-2007, The Legal Record