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SAF Files Amicus Brief In Nordyke Case, Argues For Strict Scrutiny

Second Amendment Foundation

BELLEVUE, WA --(Ammoland.com)- The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus curiae brief in the long-running Nordyke v. King case in California, arguing that Second Amendment issues must be decided on a “strict scrutiny” basis, and that an ordinance in Alameda County banning gun shows at the county fairgrounds is unconstitutional because it would not withstand that standard of review.

This case was a catalyst for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear SAF’s case challenging the handgun ban in Chicago, because in an earlier Nordyke ruling - subsequently set aside in favor of a full en banc hearing by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals - created a conflict in the circuits over Second Amendment incorporation.

SAF’s brief was written by attorney Alan Gura, who argued the landmark 2008 Heller case and represented SAF and its co-plaintiffs in the recent McDonald case, and is currently working with the foundation on other cases in Maryland, Illinois, New York and North Carolina.

Alameda County passed an ordinance more than ten years ago prohibiting the carrying of firearms on county property following a shooting at the county fair in 1998. Russell and Sallie Nordyke operated a gun show at the county fairgrounds. The shooting incident was not related to their gun show, but county officials used that as an excuse to adopt the prohibition.

“This is a very important case,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “because it could establish the highest standard of scrutiny to which gun laws around the country would be subjected. While gun prohibitionists were upset by the 2008 Heller ruling and demoralized by our victory this year in the McDonald case, they are terrified of a strict scrutiny standard that could be established by the Nordyke case.”

The Nordyke case’s importance, Gottlieb stated, “cannot be underestimated, or understated.”

“Strict scrutiny is the standard of review to which all constitutionally-protected fundamental civil rights must be held,” he observed.

“This case has survived for more than a decade, a fact in itself that is remarkable. We believe, in the wake of Heller and McDonald, that the Ninth Circuit must act decisively to protect the Second Amendment from willy-nilly regulation by anti-gun public officials.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (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 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

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Multiple Legal Briefs Filed In Nordyke V. Alameda Over Second Amendment
Ninth Circuit Case May Determine The Standard Of Review For Scrutinizing Laws Facing Second Amendment Challenges.

California Rifle and Pistol Association

California - -(AmmoLand.com)- Multiple briefs have been filed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals supporting gun show owners who have challenged an Alameda County ordinance banning firearms on county property, including the county fairgrounds.

These include amicus briefs by the National Rifle Association, CATO Institute, Second Amendment Foundation, and Calguns Foundation, as well as the brief for the plaintiffs, the Nordykes. Yesterday The CRPA Foundation (CRPAF) filed its amicusbrief.

Copies of the briefs are being posted at www.calgunlaws.com as they become available.

The Alameda ordinance effectively prohibits gun shows from taking place on the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California. The Nordyke family promoted gun shows at the fairgrounds from 1991 to 1999. Although no violence was associated with the gun show, Alameda County nonetheless passed the ordinance in 1999 as a way to stop pro-Second Amendment and civil rights activists from gathering there. The Nordykes sued, challenging the ordinance on multiple grounds.

The case has a long and convoluted history. But as the case has progressed the legal issues have narrowed down to whether the ordinance unconstitutionally infringes on the Second Amendment rights of those who promoted or attended the show.

After the trial court most recently ruled against the Nordykes, they appealed. On April 20, 2009, the three-judge Nordyke appeals court panel was the first in the nation to rule that the Second Amendment’s prohibition against infringing on the individual right to keep and bear arms applies not just to federal action, but state and local action as well. Two other circuits, the Second and Seventh, had ruled that the Second Amendment only limits federal government actions.

A federal appellate court ruling applying the Second Amendment to the states via the “incorporation” doctrine was the next major goal for gun rights advocates following the June 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the United States Supreme Court confirmed that the Second Amendment protects a fundamental individual right to self defense and to keep and bear arms. So the Ninth Circuit incorporation ruling in Nordyke was welcome news, and bolstered the arguments for incorporation made in McDonald v. Chicago before the United State Supreme Court.

Although the three-judge panel ruled that the Second Amendment was incorporated, it also held that the Alameda County ordinance was not an unconstitutional infringement of the Second Amendment. The case went up to the Ninth Circuit en banc panel, which stayed the case pending the McDonald decision. When the McDonald decision came down in June 2010 and confirmed the three-judge panel’s conclusion that the Second Amendment applied to state and local actions, the en banc panel sent the case back down to the three judge panel for further consideration.

So the Nordyke case is now back being reconsidered before the three-judge panel in light of the ruling in McDonald v. Chicago. But with the incorporation issue resolved, the three-judge panel is now primarily considering whether the fairgrounds or county property, is a “sensitive place” of the type mentioned in the Heller case where restrictions on firearms such as the Alameda County ordinance would not be unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

The Nordyke case is significant because the gun ban lobby in California has made and continues to make a concerted effort to pass these types of ordinances around the state and to ban all gun shows in the process as a way to eradicate the gun culture.

The California Rifle and Pistol Association “CRPA,” founded in 1875, is dedicated to defending the rights of law-abiding citizens to responsibly use firearms for self-defense and the defense of their loved ones, for sport, and for all other legal activities. CRPA is the official state association of the National Rifle Association. A California non-profit association, CRPA is independently directed by its own Board of Directors. CRPA’s members include law enforcement officers, prosecutors, professionals, firearm experts, the general public, and loving parents. CRPA has always worked to reduce the criminal misuse of firearms and firearms accidents, while actively promoting and organizing the competitive shooting sports and Olympic training programs in California. We are proud to say that many CRPA competitors are among the best in the world. www.calgunlaws.com

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