Brady center to file brief in case to overturn city gun laws (W. Va.)

[jpak]

http://wvgazette.com/News/201104141325

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A nonprofit group that favors stronger gun control wants a local U.S. district judge to throw out a case questioning gun laws in Charleston, South Charleston and Dunbar.

Lawyers for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence plan to file an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court's southern West Virginia district today asking that judges dismiss a case filed by the West Virginia Citizens Defense League against the cities of Charleston, South Charleston and Dunbar. Those cities have gun laws that ban carrying guns on city property, and Charleston additionally limits gun purchases to one per month and requires a three-day waiting period.

Citizens Defense League lawyer Jim Mullins filed the lawsuit in January, saying the laws violated the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that citizens have an individual right to keep guns in their homes for protection, and suggested in a 2010 ruling that cities and states can't pass unreasonable gun restrictions - although the court did not define what "reasonable" meant.

But in a 21-page brief, lawyers for the Brady Center argue that gun laws in Charleston, South Charleston and Dunbar are both reasonable and necessary to protect the public.

<more>