A Victory for Gun Rights
Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 2:55 PMA Victory for Gun Rights
It’s been a while since I could report any good news for gun owners!
National Association for Gun Rights
Colorado - -(AmmoLand.com)- Last week, a Pennsylvania judge decided to actually follow the law and find David Ross not guilty for the alleged crime of possessing a weapon on airport property.
You see, Pennsylvania state law protects the right to open carry outside the secured areas at the airport.
So Mr. Ross was acting well within the law when he removed his handgun from his luggage and began to holster it as he walked out of the airport.
But an officer of the Allegheny County Police Department took issue with a civilian attempting to keep and bear arms.
The officer had such a problem with it that he illegally arrested David Ross for violating a local county ordinance which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had invalidated a decade ago.
State law trumps local county ordinances and since Pennsylvania protects open carry, Allegheny County cannot violate that right.
Since the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had ruled on this issue a decade ago, you’d think the judge would correct the error of the arresting officer and apologize for the mistake, right?
Wrong.
David Ross was convicted, even though he clearly explained the situation to the judge, and was forced to hire an attorney to appeal the case.
Well, Mr. Ross’s appeal was heard back on November 9th and this time he got a judge who actually understood the law.
In a victory for the Second amendment, David Ross was acquitted of all charges and hopefully the arresting officer learned a lesson.
Please visit the NAGR blog for more stories affecting your gun rights.
In Liberty, Dudley BrownExecutive Director
National Association for Gun Rights
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[...] Pennsylvania: A man who was arrested for violating an illegal law has been found not guilty by an appeals court. Essentially he removed a firearm from his checked baggage in a non-secure area of the airport, holstered it, and started to leave. An officer who observed the action illegally arrested the victim for violating a county ordinance that had been invalidated by the courts a decade before. Unfortunately he had been convicted in a lower court and was forced to appeal in order to clear his name. [...]