U.S. Supreme Court asked to Consider SAF, ANJRPC Right to Carry Case

BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Second Amendment Foundation and Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the appeal in the challenge to New Jersey's unconstitutional carry laws. The case is Drake v. Jerejian.

Prepared by attorneys Alan Gura (who won Second Amendment victories in the groundbreaking Heller and McDonald cases) and David Jensen, today's petition is the latest effort to bring a right-to-carry case before the high court and is the next step in the process of resolving the differing opinions of lower courts on the right to bear arms for personal protection outside the home.

"The right to self-defense is sacrosanct," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, "yet has been disparaged and denied to all but an elite few in states like New Jersey.  Individuals and families should not be deprived of the right to defend themselves and we intend to change that."

"This case could resolve the right to carry issue not only for New Jersey, but for the entire nation," added ANJRPC Executive Director Scott Bach. "So far the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear the issue in other cases, but this case may be different due to the extreme nature of New Jersey's law, which effectively denies law-abiding citizens their fundamental right to self-defense outside the home."

"The petition is an exceptional piece of legal work that is well worth taking the time to read," Bach, an attorney, noted. "It extensively documents the differing of opinions of lower courts throughout the nation that need to be reconciled, and observes: 'The notion that carrying handguns outside the home is 'conduct falling outside the scope of the Second Amendment's guarantee' simply cannot be squared with Heller…[H]istory, consensus, and simple common sense do not remotely support New Jersey's law, a relatively modern and intensely controversial regulation that exists in only a small handful of states'."

"It is time for the high court to clarify that the right to bear arms does not stop at someone's front door," Gottlieb observed. "What other constitutional right is confined to one's house? The Second Amendment was never meant to be encumbered with such a limitation, and it cannot possibly be interpreted that way, but it will take a Supreme Court ruling to convince lower courts and anti-gunners, and put this debate to rest."

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