letter from cgf to the town of los gatos, ca august 5, 2013
DESCRIPTION
Letter from CGF to the Town of Los Gatos, CA August 5, 2013 regarding a proposed gun control ordinance (agenda item no. 5 for 8/5/13 meeting of the Town Council)TRANSCRIPT
-
Page 1 of 3
The Calguns Foundation
970 Reserve Drive Suite 133 | Roseville, CA 95678 650.275.1015 | @CalgunsFdn | Facebook.com/CalgunsFoundation
Monday, August 5, 2013 VIA EMAIL AND FAX Mayor Barbara Spector Vice Mayor Steve Leonardis Council Member Diane McNutt Council Member Joe Pirzynski Council Member Marcia Jensen Town of Los Gatos 110 E. Main Street Los Gatos, CA 95030 Regarding: Aug. 5, 2013 Town Council Meeting Agenda Item no. 5 -- OPPOSE
Dear Town of Los Gatos, Mayor Spector, and members of the Town Council:
I write you today on behalf of The Calguns Foundation to express our
STRONG OPPOSITION to the Town of Los Gatos (the Town) Town Council agenda
item no. 5 for the meeting to be held on August 5, 2013, captioned as Adopt
Ordinance adding a new section XII to Chapter 14 to the Town Code titled Firearms
Dealers - Sale of Firearms and Ammunition to require a permit process for the sale of
firearms, ammunition, and/or explosive devices (internal quotations omitted) (the
Subject Ordinance).
The Subject Ordinance is so deeply and terminally flawed that, in the
interests of brevity, we will not endeavor here to point out every wrong-headed and
unlawful provision contained in it. We will, however, encourage you to consider how
the Subject Ordinance would be perceived -- to you, to Town residents, and to judges
were you to replace terms like firearm with books, ammunition with paper
or ink, and Firearms Dealers with abortion clinics or bookstores. As the United
States Supreme Court so unmistakably held, [] it is clear that the Framers and
ratifiers of the Fourteenth Amendment counted the right to keep and bear arms
-
Town of Los Gatos Re: Aug. 5, 2013 Town Council Meeting Agenda Item no. 5 -- OPPOSE Re: Aug. 5, 2013 Town Council Meeting Agenda Item no. 5 -- OPPOSE Monday, August 5, 2013 Page 2 of 3
The Calguns Foundation 970 Reserve Drive | Suite 133 | Roseville, CA 95678
650.275.1015 | T: @calgunsfdn | F: facebook.com/calgunsfoundation
among those fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.
(McDonald v. Chicago, 130 S.Ct. 3020 (2010) at 3042.)
It is deeply troubling that the Towns elected leaders -- who swore to uphold
the whole Constitution not as an afterthought, but as an express and primary
commitment to the People they were elected to serve -- might act to pass the Subject
Ordinance and infringe the fundamental, Constitutionally-enumerated rights of its
residents, visitors, and business owners. The appropriate decision for you, then, is
clear: oppose the Subject Ordinance and stand with the People.
In a February 11, 2013, letter to you on the subject of a prior version of the
Town Councils efforts to violate civil rights and thumb its nose at the Supreme Court,
firearms advocacy group CAL-FFL communicated the following:
In addition to the administrative burden of litigating unlawful ordinances, disruption to government, public tension, the direct costs of litigation and the associated impact to taxpayers, cities have had to pay substantial fee awards to victorious plaintiffs in firearms and Second Amendment cases since 2008. For example:
Fiscal v. San Francisco: (NRA) $380,000 D.C. v Heller: (Alan Gura) $1,500,000 McDonald v. Chicago: (SAF/Alan Gura) $399,950 NRA v. Chicago: (NRA) over $1,400,000 Ezell v. Chicago: (SAF/Alan Gura) $TBD, likely in line with the above Moore v. Madigan: (SAF/Alan Gura) $TBD, likely in line with the above Shepard v. Madigan: (NRA) $TBD, likely in line with the above
Importantly, the above fee amounts are those paid to the Plaintiffs by defendants and do not include the internal and third-party costs of the municipal defendants.
If the Town chooses to enact and enforce the subject Ordinance, it should not
be surprised when civil rights advocates act decisively to add the Town of Los Gatos
to the growing list of defendants who paid a high price for making bad decisions.
-
Town of Los Gatos Re: Aug. 5, 2013 Town Council Meeting Agenda Item no. 5 -- OPPOSE Re: Aug. 5, 2013 Town Council Meeting Agenda Item no. 5 -- OPPOSE Monday, August 5, 2013 Page 3 of 3
The Calguns Foundation 970 Reserve Drive | Suite 133 | Roseville, CA 95678
650.275.1015 | T: @calgunsfdn | F: facebook.com/calgunsfoundation
Those who established our great Nation knew that, as a byproduct of our
imperfect human condition, some government officials would persecute unpopular
minorities and those who held different or opposing views. Thankfully, those same
Founders and Framers of the Bill of Rights and our Constitutions Fourteenth
Amendment also ensured that People who are harmed by the acts of oppressive,
despotic, or simply unintelligent governments have an opportunity to remedy
injustices in a more refined and civil manner than the one employed in 1775. The
Calguns Foundation exists, in part, to defend the civil rights protected under our
Constitution using every available and necessary legal remedy. To that end, we are
far from reticent to exercise our judicial options here.
In sum, we look forward to your total opposit ion to and rejection
of the Subject Ordinance or, in the alternative, the tremendous public scrutiny
that will naturally follow when Los Gatos taxpayers realize how many teachers,
librarians, and peace officers could have been employed with the money you chose
to waste in a misguided act to become the Wests version of Chicago, Illinois and
Washington, D.C. Your legacy awaits -- we counsel you to choose liberty.
Sincerely, ____________________ Brandon Combs Executive Director CC: Judith Propp, Los Gatos Town Attorney Greg Larson, Los Gatos Town Manager Donald Kilmer, Litigation Counsel Charles Hokanson, Litigation Counsel Victor Otten, Litigation Counsel Jason Davis, Litigation Counsel