US appeals court deems gun law unconstitutional

[wmenorr67]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/19/us-appeals-court-deems-gun-law-unconstitutional/

A federal appeals court in Cincinnati deemed a law unconstitutional that kept a Michigan man who was committed to a mental institution from owning a gun.

The three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a federal ban on gun ownership for those who have been committed to a mental institution violated the Second Amendment rights of 73-year-old Clifford Charles Tyler.

Tyler attempted to buy a gun and was denied on the grounds that he had been committed to a mental institution in 1986 after suffering emotional problems stemming from a divorce. He was only in there for a month.

If this holds up past the Supreme Court, if it gets there, how closer are we to getting NFA overturned?

[Balog]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/12/19/us-appeals-court-deems-gun-law-unconstitutional/

If this holds up past the Supreme Court, if it gets there, how closer are we to getting NFA overturned?

I don't really understand how this case and the NFA are related? 

[wmenorr67]

I don't really understand how this case and the NFA are related? 

I read it as the courts are saying that any law that is restrictive in nature is unconstitutional therefore the NFA is unconstitutional because it is restrictive in nature.

[Balog]

I read it as the courts are saying that any law that is restrictive in nature is unconstitutional therefore the NFA is unconstitutional because it is restrictive in nature.

All SCotUS rulings have held some restrictions are legal. I doubt this will have any effect on that.

[MechAg94]

It might be a crack in the door to allowing felons to restore their rights though. 

[T.O.M.]

It might be a crack in the door to allowing felons to restore their rights though. 

Not sure about Federal offenses, but at least here in Ohio there is already a law in place for a person "under disability" for a prior conviction to have the right restored.

[JN01]

The Feds cut funding for 2nd Amendment rights restoration, but provide funding for states to provide a program to do it.  Some states have declined to do so.  Court recognized that a fundamental right (2A) may be denied to those with mental issues making them dangerous, but there must be a system in place for EVERYONE to have those rights restored if that mental condition no longer exists.  Volokh summary: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/12/18/second-amendment-and-people-who-had-been-committed-to-a-mental-institution-28-years-ago/

[MillCreek]

Washington also has a process for restoration of firearms rights.  I know a few counsel who make a tidy living off of that.

[Hawkmoon]

I read it as the courts are saying that any law that is restrictive in nature is unconstitutional therefore the NFA is unconstitutional because it is restrictive in nature.

That's not what the court said at all. Tyler's case was dismissed at the district court level because the government said he hadn't stated a claim, and the court bought that. The appeals court said that Tyler HAD stated a claim: that his Second Amendment rights were violated. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court with a directive that IF the gooberment doesn't dispute the facts [supporting Tyler's claim that he is not a danger to anyone and therefore should not be deprived of a fundamental right], the court must find the law unconstitutional.

Which means it ain't over yet, and if the gooberment can show sufficient reason to convince the court that Tyler is a danger, the law presumably will not be found unconstitutional.

[JN01]

From the decision:

The government at oral argument stated that it currently has no reason to dispute that Tyler is a non-dangerous individual. On remand, the government may, if it chooses, file an answer to Tyler’s complaint to contest his factual allegations. If it declines to do so, the district court should enter a declaration of unconstitutionality as to § 922(g)(4)’s application to Tyler.