Drizzt
Member
(IL) Man challenges right to bear arms in public
Man challenges right to bear arms in public
By Cynthia Fugate
Flyer Staff Writer
DANVILLE -- When Will Hutchins walked into the Hendricks County Courthouse Feb. 4 with a Colt .45-calibur semiautomatic handgun tucked in his belt, he says he didn't get what he bargained for -- he got a lot less.
Hutchens, 53 of Plainfield, says he walked up to a Hendricks County Sheriff's Deputy in the courthouse, informed him that he had the weapon and demanded to be cited for breaking a county ordinance prohibiting deadly weapons on the premises.
His goal, he says, is to challenge any law that prohibits him from carrying a firearm wherever he pleases. He says the ordinance is the government's way of infringing on his right to bear arms.
"It's my constitutional right to carry a gun in the courthouse, a park, anywhere I want," Hutchins said.
After receiving a citation, Hutchens was told not to return to court with the gun, but that's exactly what he did for his March 24 hearing. Deputies seized the weapon.
Hendricks County Attorney Greg Steuerwald is representing the county in the case because Hutchens has, so far, only violated a county ordinance.
"There are limitations on the Second Amendment, certainly they are for the public safety," Steuerwald said. "It's analogous to the First Amendment that you can't run into a crowded theater and yell fire."
Hutchins appeared before Hendricks Superior Court III Judge Karen Love, who told him, "If you ever bring a weapon into this court again, loaded or not, I will find you in contempt."
Hutchins requested a jury trial and asked Love to remove herself from the case on the grounds that she was one of four judges who authored the judicial order that firearms are prohibited in the courthouse. Judges Jeffrey V. Boles, David H. Coleman and Robert Freeze also signed the order.
Though Love warned Hutchins not to return with his weapon, he says that's exactly what he will do.
"It's my right as an American to carry a gun and that's exactly what I'm going to do," he said. "All the way to the Indiana State Supreme Court, if I have to."
Steuerwald says this is the first instance that a Hendricks County resident has challenged the order.
"I believe citizens understand that reasonable limitations can be placed on the right to bear arms and carrying a loaded pistol into a courtroom is certainly one of those (limitations)," he said.
http://www.flyergroup.com/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=41391?hc_story
edited because I was working on a California project while doing this, and put the wrong state
Man challenges right to bear arms in public
By Cynthia Fugate
Flyer Staff Writer
DANVILLE -- When Will Hutchins walked into the Hendricks County Courthouse Feb. 4 with a Colt .45-calibur semiautomatic handgun tucked in his belt, he says he didn't get what he bargained for -- he got a lot less.
Hutchens, 53 of Plainfield, says he walked up to a Hendricks County Sheriff's Deputy in the courthouse, informed him that he had the weapon and demanded to be cited for breaking a county ordinance prohibiting deadly weapons on the premises.
His goal, he says, is to challenge any law that prohibits him from carrying a firearm wherever he pleases. He says the ordinance is the government's way of infringing on his right to bear arms.
"It's my constitutional right to carry a gun in the courthouse, a park, anywhere I want," Hutchins said.
After receiving a citation, Hutchens was told not to return to court with the gun, but that's exactly what he did for his March 24 hearing. Deputies seized the weapon.
Hendricks County Attorney Greg Steuerwald is representing the county in the case because Hutchens has, so far, only violated a county ordinance.
"There are limitations on the Second Amendment, certainly they are for the public safety," Steuerwald said. "It's analogous to the First Amendment that you can't run into a crowded theater and yell fire."
Hutchins appeared before Hendricks Superior Court III Judge Karen Love, who told him, "If you ever bring a weapon into this court again, loaded or not, I will find you in contempt."
Hutchins requested a jury trial and asked Love to remove herself from the case on the grounds that she was one of four judges who authored the judicial order that firearms are prohibited in the courthouse. Judges Jeffrey V. Boles, David H. Coleman and Robert Freeze also signed the order.
Though Love warned Hutchins not to return with his weapon, he says that's exactly what he will do.
"It's my right as an American to carry a gun and that's exactly what I'm going to do," he said. "All the way to the Indiana State Supreme Court, if I have to."
Steuerwald says this is the first instance that a Hendricks County resident has challenged the order.
"I believe citizens understand that reasonable limitations can be placed on the right to bear arms and carrying a loaded pistol into a courtroom is certainly one of those (limitations)," he said.
http://www.flyergroup.com/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=41391?hc_story
edited because I was working on a California project while doing this, and put the wrong state
Last edited: