The Second Amendment Foundation has released a statement on their joint lawsuit with the CalGuns Foundation challenging the City and County of San Francisco’s and the City of Oakland’s refusal to return legally owned firearms to persons exonerated of a crime.<\/p>\n
BELLEVUE, WA \u2014 The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit against the police departments in San Francisco and Oakland, California for refusing to return firearms to people who had been charged with crimes, but subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
SAF is joined in the lawsuit by the Calguns Foundation and two private citizens. The case is known as Churchill, et al. v. Harris, et al.<\/p>\n
The police agencies apparently are relying on a state Department of Justice document that requires proof of ownership of each firearm before they are returned. But Don Kilmer, counsel for the plaintiffs, has noted that, \u201cIn California, the Evidence Code makes it clear that simple possession is proof of ownership of almost all types of common property, including firearms. The California Department of Justice is misleading police departments in such a way that they violate the rights of gun owners who were investigated and found to have not violated the law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the police departments are doing is a deliberate theft of personal property, and they know it,\u201d said SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. \u201cOur partners at the Calguns Foundation have properly argued that this is inexcusable, and they are right. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw this sort of property theft following Hurricane Katrina,\u201d Gottlieb recalled, \u201cand we took that case to federal court, and won. Government agencies simply cannot seize private property and refuse to give it back by playing bureaucratic games.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaw-abiding Californians should not be forced to seek out expensive legal representation just to get back what is rightfully theirs in the first place,\u201d added Calguns Foundation chairman Gene Hoffman.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis cannot be allowed to continue,\u201d Gottlieb observed. \u201cThat\u2019s why we have taken this action, and we expect to prevail.\u201d
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