Lawyers for Mayor Michael Bloomberg have asked a judge to ban any reference to the Second Amendment during the upcoming trial of a gun shop owner who has sued New York City officials for libel damages of $400 million.
The trial concerns a civil lawsuit trial beginning May 27 against Georgia gun dealer Jay Wallace, proprietor at Adventure Outdoors. The city alleges Adventure Outdoors is responsible for a disproportionate number of the firearms recovered from criminals in New York City.
A lawyer for Adventure Outdoors, John Renzulli, said, “If you can’t discuss the Bill of Rights in a court of law, where should we discuss these issues? Should we reserve it for the tavern? The politics involved here is whether the city has the power to go into another state and control the lawful sale of firearms.”
“Apparently Mayor Bloomberg has a problem with both the First and the Second amendments,” Lawrence Keane, the general counsel of a firearms industry association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said.
The gun store’s owner, Jay Wallace, says his store abides by Georgia and federal regulations and takes steps to avoid selling firearms to gun traffickers.
Eric Proshansky, the lawyer for the city, wrote in the motion that he’s seeking a ban on “any references” to the amendment.
“Any references by counsel to the Second Amendment or analogous state constitutional provisions are likewise irrelevant,” the brief states.
http://www.nysun.com/news/new-york/gag-2nd-amendment-city-s-aim-guns-suit
