Not taking sides...Before anyone gets all exited about Mr. Nichols, perhaps you should read some of his "thoughts." There is this Examiner.com article: http://www.examiner.com/la-in-los-a...inue-their-war-against-open-carry-the-nra-too
Over at opencarry.org, Mr. Nichols was raising money for a lawsuit. Said he had a top-notch attorney ready to do the work. And he files this case, pro per.
What happened to the money raised? What happened to that attorney?
Not taking sides...
Nichols' response to this is that an attorney is lined up for the inevitable appeal. Not much money has been raised and there are also non-attorney expenses in filing the initial lawsuit.
Now, my opinion: I don't think this lawsuit has any legs. Just can't talk sense to some folks. Still, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. He's fighting his fight and I doubt he can do any harm.
I would offer three things.
First, it is not what happens in the district court that could cause harm. It would be at the appellate level that whatever happens becomes precedent.
Second, this is precisely the type of "maverick" undertaking that Alan Gura, the SAF and to a lessor extent the NRA, has warned us about.
And finally, until the Courts agree that we have a right to carry in general, lawsuits aimed at a specific form of carry can backfire. This is generally called putting the cart before the horse.
That last one by KC Brown made me stop and think.
On Carry specifically, outside of ( Hi, Ca, Ma, NY, NJ,Md, and DC) the various legislatures are rapidly turning "good" carry laws even better. SAF has already sucuessfully chipping away on US Citizens vs Legally Resident Aliens.
Is there anything significant left to challenge in a friendly environment, short of a Hail Mary attempt to overturn a Shall Issue scheme in favor of Constitutional Carry ? ( Speaking in terms of Carry per se, not EBR's or UBC's)
At first glance CO and SC seem like matters for their state legislature, not so much the courts. I'm up on the state level Ore, have to look into the municipalities..
That last one by KC Brown made me stop and think.
On Carry specifically, outside of ( Hi, Ca, Ma, NY, NJ,Md, and DC) the various legislatures are rapidly turning "good" carry laws even better. SAF has already sucuessfully chipping away on US Citizens vs Legally Resident Aliens.
Is there anything significant left to challenge in a friendly environment, short of a Hail Mary attempt to overturn a Shall Issue scheme in favor of Constitutional Carry ? ( Speaking in terms of Carry per se, not EBR's or UBC's)
Without wanting to criticize anyone for exercising their First Amendment rights, as a general matter, *winning* lawsuits is really important. FWIW, the civil rights revolution in the 50s and 60s took place in large measure *because* of very careful case selection by very smart people. Or, as Kenny Rogers says, "you got to know when to hold 'em and when to fold em" and "when to walk away and when to run." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXRq4L4BcbQ That's my two bits worth. Affivant sayth further not.