U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- The United States Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the 9th circuit ruling in the Teixeira v. Alameda County case.
In 2010, John Teixeira wanted to open a gun shop in Alameda County five miles south of Oakland, California in the unincorporated neighborhood of San Lorenzo. He planned on not only selling guns but also offering gun-safety training and firearms repairs. The Alameda County zoning office denied the permit because it was less than 500 feet from residential properties.
Alameda County has an ordinance that banned new gun shops within 500 feet of schools, daycare centers, liquor stores or bars, other gun stores, and residential districts. This ordinance made it impossible for any new gun store from opening in the county.
Teixeira sued Alameda County for infringing on his 2nd Amendment rights. Several gun-rights groups joined him in the lawsuit against the California County. The fear is that zoning boards could use regulations to prevent gun stores from opening across the state and the country.
By changing zoning laws, local zoning boards can add so many regulations that it can make it impossible for someone to open up a firearms store. Gun-rights advocates argue that anti-gun officials could use this tactic as a de facto ban on gun shops similar to what happened in Alameda County.
Alameda County argued that there were already multiple gun shops, so they were within their rights to prevent another gun store from opening in their jurisdiction. Alameda County includes the Bay Area and Silicon Valley, which is one of the most liberal areas in the country.
In a 9-2 ruling, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 2nd Amendment does not guarantee the right to sell guns. The San Francisco court is known for being extremely liberal. Conservatives have long accused the 9th Circuit Court of “legislating from the bench.”
Teixeira’s attorney likened the banning of gun stores to the banning of bookstores. They argued that bookstores couldn’t be banned because it would be considered a violation of the 1st Amendment so if bookstores can’t be banned then gun stores should be protected as well. The 9th Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon rejected this comparison outright.
Berzon said bookstores “are themselves engaged in conduct directly protected by the First Amendment” while “the act of selling firearms is not part or parcel of the right to ‘keep and bear arms.'”
The United States Supreme Court has avoided taking action on guns rights cases since the Heller decision in 2008 and 2010.
SCOTUS has rejected taking up cases against the Maryland “Assualt Weapons” ban, and an appeal by a person who claimed that open carrying a gun in public was protected under the 2nd Amendment.
There was hope that SCOTUS would take up more gun-rights cases with the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the bench. Unfortunately, SCOTUS has continued the trend of not hearing 2nd Amendment cases.
Gun rights advocates are disappointed in the court’s decision to not to hear the case. The Court did not offer any reason for why they rejected hearing the appeal of Teixeira v. Alameda.
“While disappointed that again SCOTUS avoids ruling on Second Amendment issues, voters need to do their job of changing local ordinances and state law, and of changing the people making the laws,” said Willes K. Lee President, National Federation of Republican Assemblies. “These statues promulgate even more confusing local de facto gun bans, further infringing on our right to defend ourselves. This also highlights the need for more Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices and a thorough cleansing of the leftist 9th Circuit.”
With more gun-rights cases heading to the Supreme Court, gun-rights groups are left wondering when the Court will finally hear a gun-related case. With the Circuit Court of Appeals being packed with advocate judges, the Supreme Court is our only defense against the Draconian laws that infringe on our Constitutional rights. Whether they will do their job is the question.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He is the former CEO of Veritas Firearms, LLC and is the co-host of The Patriot News Podcast which can be found at www.blogtalkradio.com/patriotnews. John has written extensively on the patriot movement including 3%’ers, Oath Keepers, and Militias. In addition to the Patriot movement, John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and is currently working on a book on the history of the patriot movement and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss or at www.crumpy.com.