Do You Know The Way To (Avoid) San Jose? After mayor pushed gun insurance mandate and annual fee, his California city got sued. STORY BY DAVE WORKMAN
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lmost immediately after anti-gun San Jose, California, Mayor Sam Liccardo pushed through a requirement that gun owners obtain liability insurance and pay an annual gun fee to the city – to offset costs of so-called “gun violence” – the city was sued by a gun rights organization. Following Mayor Sam Liccardo the council’s initial vote on January 26, a second vote was required for ratification. That occurred on February 8, according to Rachel Davis, a spokesperson for the city. She said the two ordinances – one dealing with the fee and the other with the insurance requirement – will take effect in August.
Because of that, more lawsuits are likely to follow, and Golden State gun rights activists are convinced that the insurance and fee requirements are unconstitutional. Although California does not have a specific right-tobear-arms provision in its state constitution, ever since June 2010 when the US Supreme Court handed down an affirmative ruling in the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago, the state and its political subdivisions have been subject to the Second Amendment. The McDonald case – brought by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) – incorporated the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment. But civil cases challenging gun control laws on federal constitutional grounds frequently take lots of time, and in the 9th US Circuit, which covers all of the Western states, gun rights cases can drag on and on. The
court makeup is still tilted toward liberal judges, despite some key appointments by former President Donald Trump. Police officials have said that they won’t be actively enforcing the regulations, but if they come in contact with gun owners, they will ask for proof of insurance and whether the fees have been paid, according to published reports. While it did not file the first legal challenge to San Jose’s ordinance, the California-based Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) promised to take action before the council approved the new regulations. The group called the new mandates “burdensome, unconstitutional, and prohibited by California law.” The state does have something of a preemption statute, which is how SAF has twice successfully litigated against gun bans by the City of San Francisco. One of those lawsuits also involved the
San Jose, located near San Francisco, is a longtime hub of the high-tech industry, but the recent passage of two gun-related measures has Second Amendment advocates hitting control-Z via the federal court system. (THIS IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK; INSET: US SENATE, OFFICE OF SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS)
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