SAF: 'Deerfield's Free Legal Help No Match For Our Attorneys'
Jun 13, 2018, 04:02 ET
BELLEVUE, Wash., June 13, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tuesday's court victory against the ban of so-called "assault weapons" and original capacity magazines in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield demonstrated once again that pro-bono legal help from an outside law firm and anti-gun groups is no match for attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation, SAF said today.
The ban was to have taken effect Wednesday, but was blocked by Lake County Circuit Court Judge Luis Berrones. SAF and the Illinois State Rifle Association immediately sued when the ban was adopted in April. The village approved the ban as a symbolic reaction the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Guns Save Life filed an additional lawsuit with support from the NRA.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, "Jonathan Lowy of the Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence and Chris Wilson of the Chicago office of Perkins Coie LLP were appointed as special counsel for the assault weapons ban litigation... Both Lowy and Wilson will be doing their work on a pro bono basis, according to Steven M. Elrod, Deerfield's new village attorney."
"It is distressing that law-abiding firearms owners are forced to finance expensive legal actions against communities like Deerfield when these municipalities get free legal help to essentially litigate against the rights of those very citizens," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb.
"The high cost of such lawsuits," he added, "is why gun owners feel it is imperative to donate to SAF, and we thank every single one of them for their continued support. Only by raising money to fund these legal battles can we continue winning back firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time."
The fight in Deerfield may not be over, Gottlieb warned, and there are more legal challenges on the horizon. It is almost certain that some of the municipalities facing SAF legal action will be getting free legal help.
"We choose our battles carefully," Gottlieb noted, "to get the biggest bang for our members' bucks. As Deerfield found out, our legal team is up to the fight."
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
SOURCE Second Amendment Foundation