Judge Rules Against Montgomery County

Silveraldo Gunshows Can Continue!

News and Views, Montgomery County gun show ban
HALFTIME SCORE: GUN SHOWS = 1
MONTGOMERY COUNTY = 0

O.K. Folks; Here is an update on the Montgomery County, Maryland attempt to ban gun shows at the Gathersburg Agricultural Center and the suit that was filed to stop it. The first round in the fight is over and the County LOST. The judicial opinion in the can be found here;

Judge Rules Against Montgomery County

So it's official. Now for some of my thoughts in this. After I study the opinion I'll have more to say.

First, my long term impression has been confirmed through this process, not just with Montgomery County but at the Prince Georges County effort to ban gun shows, and other anti-gun laws. That impression is, "Those who try to legislate firearms really DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING about the subject they are attempting to regulate". OK, that may be a little harsh, but they reinforce their ignorance far too many times to think they do know something about firearms.

Perhaps they do know something but do not care because they have some hidden agenda. If so, the repeated attempts at stupid legislation is exposing the agenda through repeated actions. The judge got to that point. See below.

So now to the actual case. MCSM is one of three plaintiffs, the one claiming an infringement of 1st Amendment rights of political free speech. You know, the up on a soap box at the gun shows type of speech. We, as MCSM members are active in getting the message out to the public through our actions and the MCSM group actions. see More will be put on the web site as time permits.

The gun show promoter, and one firearm vendor, were the other plaintiffs claiming 1st Amendment commercial free speech, the offer to do business.

Early on, representing MCSM, I was happy with the case and its two pronged individual but related approach. I knew my complaint was significant and perhaps the most difficult for the County to defend against, but I also knew that the commercial complaints would get the most attention. There appears to be a lot of case law on the latter if not on the former.

After filing affidavits and seeing the claims, counter claims and extensions of the process, I had the feeling that things were still going well, the County was trying, in my opinion, to change the rules of the game in mid-stride. That indicated they saw the weakness of their case and were trying to maneuver around it.

The latest county change was to require testimony at trial, which went very well. The Judge asked very clear and to some extent pointed questions, it was pretty clear where he was going. Just to make things clearer, he stated his opinion that no matter what the decision, he was confident that the case would be carried forward on appeal. Perhaps this is just a legal CYA position, but I personally found it supportive. I think there will eventually be a trial regarding the 1st Amendment political free speech question and perhaps even the American Civil Liberties Union will get involved in this civil rights issue! It has happened before; the generally anti- gun ACLU fights on the side of gun rights!! But not in this first round, read on.

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The case centered on the following question; "...is the County really just applying a revenue/funding restriction or, by that funding restriction, are they really trying to control gun shows and hence the sale of firearms?" It's clear to me; the county action is extortion of those receiving the funds. They say, do as we require or you won’t get the funds and you’ll have to pay back past funds. It is just like the states vs. federal highway funds if the states do not control speed limits or Blood alcohol levels. (But then I'm not the lawyer, and I am told that such highway funds extortion IS LEGAL).

The legal guys argued this to death, citing some folks named Tilly and Frank (case law) and such, and the eventual decision by the Judge is that the county can not make this restriction because the gun show is at a location within the city of Gaithersburg and only that location (the city, not the county) can make such a restriction on gun shows. I Bet You, Gaithersburg is now in for some heat from the county! The state of Maryland will most likely weigh-in to do something on a state wide basis. Come on guys, just try it. There are lots of arguments waiting to counter your attempts to ban gun shows and political free speech is the anchor. Nothing like using the 1st Amendment to protect the Second Amendment.

But, it is a bit frustrating to know the following; We spent our money to fight the county which was also spending OUR money to defend themselves (to defeat us). If they keep this up long enough, is there an abuse of office case that can be made against the county officials?

In closing I'll leave you with a few statements made at trial. As best I can recall from my notes the Judge said to the county representatives that, "...you have exposed what you really are...you just don't want them to sell guns - that's what you want". I guess he was forming the opinion that the county law was a regulation on the firearms trade, not just a simple funding issue.

The issue of what constituted a "sale" was also argued ad. nauseam. For example can you display a firearm with the understanding that it was for sale, even with a sign, but not accept a contract or any cash? Is that display and not sale? or could you accept a contract and down payment and then complete the "sale" by handing over the remaining payment and the merchandise at a later time at another location? Curiouser and curiouser.

Finally the Judge said, "I guess I could ask Mr. Garrett (county) about sale without display, but that would be too cruel". He then added that, "...the sale was prohibited by this financial hammer (the funding prohibition)"

Since the arguments were all organized around this county funding of this show venue, the fair grounds, the county asked all the three plaintiffs if they received any funding. When they got to me as the third witness, they asked, "Mr. Culver, does MCSM receive any county funding"? My response just had to be a resounding, "NO Thank you!"

Now to read the opinion. If you have questions, just ask at the gun shows or contact me through the MCSM web site e-mail link.

Bob Culver, MCSM
www.mcsm.org