Delaware Supreme Court win on public housing gun case

[usmarine0352_2005]

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Good. And they are not going to appeal the case.






http://www.delawareonline.com/story...reme-court-ruling-on-public-housing-/6582109/

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Supreme Court: Public housing tenants may carry guns

Sean O’Sullivan, The News Journal 11:47 p.m. EDT March 18, 2014


In a surprising blow to public housing officials and a clear win for the National Rifle Association, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that the Wilmington Housing Authority cannot set limits on residents' rights to carry guns in common areas of public housing.

The unanimous ruling by the state Supreme Court noted that under the Delaware Constitution, which offers broader gun rights protections than the U.S. Constitution, the WHA limitations on possessing a gun were "overbroad and burden the right to bear arms more than is reasonably necessary."

"Public Housing is 'a home as well as a government building,' " Justice Henry DuPont Ridgely wrote for the panel.

Also, Pileggi said he did not believe this case would end up limiting other public institutions from putting restrictions on guns in places like courthouses and town halls. "In this opinion, the court went out of its way to distinguish public residences from government buildings," he said. "There is a huge distinction" he said, because one is a home and the other is not.
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[Old Fuff]

Similar case in Illinois, outside of Chicago. A federal judge came to the same conclusion.

 

[egyas]

Similar case in Illinois, outside of Chicago. A federal judge came to the same conclusion.

Old Fluff, do you knwo the case name/date? I have said forever that I believe the "no public housing" provision in the CCW law was unconstitutional, and I had a vague memory of Illinois already losing a case about resrtricting firearms in public housing (based on the idea that it is a domicile).

 

[Old Fuff]

Old Fluff, do you knwo the case name/date?

Not off the top of my head, but I'll try to find it. I do remember that it was discussed in a previous thread on this forum.

 

[Old Fuff]

Winbigler vs. Warren County Housing Authority

The Second Amendment Foundation has won a permanent injunction against the Warren County, Ill. Housing Authority’s ban on the possession of firearms by residents or guests.

The case was filed more than a year ago in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Rock Island Division. Ronald G. Winbigler, a resident of Costello Terrace in Monmouth, is a physically disabled former police officer who wanted to keep a handgun in his residence for personal protection.

SAF filed the lawsuit on his behalf, and they were represented by attorney David Sigale, who noted, “People do not lose their Second Amendment rights just because they are of limited means. It is an indignity to make the waiver of constitutional rights a condition of government-subsidized housing.”

SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb was delighted with the ruling.

“We brought this case because it was unconscionable,” Gottlieb said, “in the wake of our victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago that a public entity in Illinois would engage in this kind of discrimination against a citizen. The WCHA has removed the lease provisions, and agreed that they were unconstitutional.”

In an order signed by District Judge Sara Darrow, plaintiffs are awarded reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. In her ruling, however, she did not make a constitutional declaration, but only recognized that SAF and the WCHA had agreed in that issue.

“Public housing is the last place one would expect to encounter residency provisions that run counter to the Bill of Rights,” Gottlieb said. “We’re delighted that this issue has been resolved to the benefit of Mr. Winbigler and citizens like him.”