Jun 28, 2008 12:50 am US/Pacific
NRA Sues To Block SF Public Housing Handgun Ban
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
The National Rifle Association sued the city of San Francisco in federal court Friday to overturn its handgun ban in public housing.
The lawsuit was filed a day after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Washington D.C. handgun ban. The high court ruled 5-4 that an individual has a constitutional right to bear arms.
While it did not directly refer to Thursday's high court ruling, the San Francisco suit and a similar one filed against the city of Chicago had been promised by the NRA in the wake of the high court decision.
A gun owner who lives in San Francisco's Valencia Gardens Housing joined the NRA's suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The man, who is gay, said he keeps the weapon to defend himself from "sexual orientation hate crimes." He is identified in the complaint by the ficticious name of Guy Doe, because he said he fears retaliation.
The lawsuit claims the housing authority's "blanket prohibition of keeping defensive firearms in public housing units violates plaintiffs' rights, privileges and immunities under the Second Amendment."
The NRA was also joined in the case by the Washington state-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
Citizens committee Chairman Alan Gottlieb said, "This lawsuit seeks to restore the rights of those living in public housing to choose to own a gun for sport or to defend their families."
Gottlieb added, "Just because someone lives in public housing does not mean that person must surrender his or her civil rights, or their right of self-defense."
But Mayor Gavin Newsom vowed the city would "vigorously fight the NRA" and defended San Francisco's ban as good for public safety.
"Is there anyone out there who really believes that we need more guns in public housing?" Newsom said. "I can't for the life of me sit back and roll over on this. We will absolutely defend the rights of the housing authority."
The high court did not specifically say whether its decision applies to state and local gun control laws as well as federal measures, but the lawsuit maintains the Second Amendment right should extend to state and local entities through the U.S. Constitution's due process clause.
"As with the advancement of any civil right throughout history, subsequent litigation is essential" to establish the parameters and extent of the right, NRA attorney Chuck Michel said.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera noted that the Supreme
Court ruling didn't address gun bans on government property and added he was "confident that our local gun control measures are on sound legal footing and will survive legal challenges."
"There's nothing in the Supreme Court ruling that automatically extends the doctrine to state and local governments," a spokesman for Herrera added. "This lawsuit is the plaintiffs' effort to push the envelope."
The NRA's Michel acknowledged that the lawsuits filed in San Francisco and Chicago were necessary to expand the Supreme Court's ruling beyond Washington, a federal district, to states and cities.
"The Supreme Court decisions was very encouraging," Michel said. "But it is just a start."
San Francisco also requires residents to keep guns in lockboxes or equip them with triggerlocks. That law, passed by the Board of Supervisors last year, wasn't challenged in Friday's lawsuit.
The San Francisco housing authority rule is contained in leases signed by tenants and is derived from a city law that bans gun possession on city property. The law is based on a 2002 California Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right of cities and counties to ban gun possession and sales on their property.
A broader San Francisco law banning most handgun possession throughout the city was overturned by a state appeals court earlier this year, but on state law grounds not related to the federal Second Amendment. The appeals court said the measure, a 2005 voter initiative, was pre-empted by California laws on gun sales and licensing.
In addition to the housing authority, defendants named in the NRA lawsuit are interim Executive Director Mirian Saez, incoming Executive Director Henry Alvarez, who takes office July 14; the city of San Francisco; Mayor Newsom; and the John Stewart Company, which manages Valencia Gardens.
The housing authority provides federally subsidized housing for about 33,000 low-income residents.
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