Is a state/city legally liable for damages after a gun ban?

[brdrail]

All - thought piece here. Is a city or state legally liable for personal damages if they deprive the individual (by law or by regulation) of their ability to defend themselves? I'm not addressing if a private individual or business owner declares that they don't want firearms on their premises (which is their right under property rights), but what I want to know is can a state or other governmental entity be held liable for damages if harm falls to the individual? In essence, if there is a gun ban in a given jurisdiction, then the individual cannot defend themselves, therefore the governmental structure that prevented the victim from protecting themselves has now taken on the specific responsibility of providing individual security. If this is the case, and violence occurs to the individual, can they sue the state or municipality for damages for failing to protect them? If this has been answered elsewhere, then please point me in the direction! Thanks!

 

[Tommygunn]

Not unless they do away with the concept of sovereign immunity.
Plus there have been a number of law cases in which it has been established that the state (or any police department) has no particular duty to protect >>you<< the citizen.
While this would seem a great argument for the second amendment it won't go away just because some government might ban firearms.

 

[wildbilll]

Negative. The USSC has ruled that the police do NOT have a duty to protect you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0

More recently, the Chimpanzee lawsuit in CT. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...SUIT?SITE=CTNHR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

[herrwalther]

Unfortunately no. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment is an individual right. An individual right negates the community benefit or damage caused by the presence or absence of firearms. This is why firearm owners/supporters of Chicago, Washington DC, California, New York, or New Jersey can't sue the state for the high levels of violent crimes in those areas. They can only sue to return the individual right to firearms.