'RATSmack - Gun rights advocates file lawsuit challenging Connecticut gun law

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/23/lawsuit-filed-against-state-connecticut-over-gun-law/?test=latestnews

Gun rights advocates file lawsuit challenging Connecticut gun law
May 23, 2013

HARTFORD, Conn. – A group of Connecticut organizations that support
gun rights, pistol permit holders and gun sellers filed a lawsuit in
federal court Wednesday against Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and other state
officials, arguing the state's new gun control law violates their
constitutional rights.

The plaintiffs are seeking a federal court injunction to stop the law
from being enforced.

Wednesday's suit comes more than a month after Malloy signed into law
a wide-ranging gun control package that extends the state's assault
weapons ban to more guns, bans large-capacity magazines and expands
background check requirements. Considered one of the toughest laws in
the country, it was a response to the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook
Elementary School.

Lead attorney Brian Stapleton said the plaintiffs' core complaint is
that the assault weapons and large-capacity magazine bans violate
their rights to bear arms and to equal protection under the law.
Stapleton, a partner with Goldberg Segalla LLP, with offices in
Hartford, New York and elsewhere, is also the lead trial counsel in
the challenge of New York's new "Safe Act" gun control law.

The plaintiffs in the Connecticut lawsuit, filed in U.S. District
Court in Bridgeport, include the Coalition of Connecticut Sportsmen,
the Connecticut Citizens Defense League, gun retailers in Monroe and
Norwalk, and various gun permit holders ranging from a rabbi in
Fairfield to an 80-year-old widow living in Hartland.

"We wanted to include in our complaint a wide variety of plaintiffs to
demonstrate the broad impact of this law," Stapleton said. "This is a
law that negatively impacts private individuals — regular, ordinary
citizens — it affects manufacturers and retailers. It affects
distributors, it affects small businesses. We've tried to bring into
the lawsuit as wide a spectrum of plaintiffs as possible for that
reason."

Stapleton said the plaintiffs expect the case will ultimately be
appealed, no matter what happens at the trial court level. Asked if he
expects the suit might reach the U.S. Supreme Court, Stapleton said,
"we are prepared to take it there if we have to."

Attorney General George Jepsen's office said it "will review this
complaint and respond in court. However, it is our belief that this
legislation is lawful, and the Office of the Attorney General is
prepared to vigorously defend the law against this and any other
potential court challenge."

Last month, New London resident Scott Ennis, on behalf of the Disabled
Americans for Firearms Rights, filed a complaint in state court for a
declaratory judgment seeking to stop enforcement of the new law. Ennis
suffers from Hemophilia A, a bleeding disorder that has caused him
severe joint damage.

In his complaint, he points out how the Connecticut constitution
guarantees the right to bear arms for personal defense and how the
state also prohibits someone's civil rights from being deprived
because of their physical disability. By banning certain weapons, he
argues the state is infringing on the rights of people with
disabilities.

In this latest suit, Stapleton argues that Connecticut's new law is
too vague. For example, he claims it is unclear which guns are banned
under the expanded assault weapons ban and says guns similar to banned
guns aren't on the list.

Stapleton also points to the alleged vagueness of the ban on
ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

As of Jan. 1, the larger capacity magazines must be destroyed,
registered with the state, sold out-of-state or retrofitted to hold
fewer rounds. Stapleton said the state has not offered any indication
how the guns can be retrofitted and what the state would consider an
acceptable modification.

The lawsuit also argues that magazines that hold 10 or fewer rounds
are not available for many firearms and the law "amounts to a ban on
the legal and commonly used firearms" that were designed to be used
with standard larger capacity magazines.


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