NEWS
Challenge to NYS Stun Gun Law
A lawsuit filed last week challenges New York's ban on tasers. The state is one of five in the country that ban the personal ownership of the weapon. The suit was filed by Middleburgh Mayor Matthew Avitabile (our owner) and the Firearms Policy Foundation.
A similar case was heard in the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year in Caetano v. Massachusetts. In that case, the court decided unanimously to overturn the conviction of a woman charged with using a taser in Massachusetts for self-defense.
The case, Avitabile v. Cuomo is headed for the United States District Court for Northern New York. The suit states, in part, that the state "retains the ability presumptively to
regulate the manner of carrying arms and may prohibit certain arms in narrowly defined sensitive places, prohibit the carrying of arms that are not within the scope of Second Amendment’s protection such as unusually dangerous arms, and disqualify specific, particularly dangerous individuals from carrying arms." It follows that stun guns are allowable under current interpretations of the Second Amendment, including the Heller v. District of Columbia case.
"I don't want to make this a reflection on the paper," said Avitabile, "I want the right to exercise all of my civil rights."
We will cover the case as it unfolds.
A similar case was heard in the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year in Caetano v. Massachusetts. In that case, the court decided unanimously to overturn the conviction of a woman charged with using a taser in Massachusetts for self-defense.
The case, Avitabile v. Cuomo is headed for the United States District Court for Northern New York. The suit states, in part, that the state "retains the ability presumptively to
regulate the manner of carrying arms and may prohibit certain arms in narrowly defined sensitive places, prohibit the carrying of arms that are not within the scope of Second Amendment’s protection such as unusually dangerous arms, and disqualify specific, particularly dangerous individuals from carrying arms." It follows that stun guns are allowable under current interpretations of the Second Amendment, including the Heller v. District of Columbia case.
"I don't want to make this a reflection on the paper," said Avitabile, "I want the right to exercise all of my civil rights."
We will cover the case as it unfolds.