{"id":845,"date":"2016-12-07T10:50:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-07T10:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/2016\/12\/07\/gov-cuomo-sued-over-ny-ban-on-tasers\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:27:12","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:27:12","slug":"gov-cuomo-sued-over-ny-ban-on-tasers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/?p=845","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Cuomo Sued Over NY Ban On Tasers And Stun Guns"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:8963,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/legal\\\/avitabile-v-cuomo&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/legal\\\/avitabile-v-cuomo&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:4995,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.firearmspolicy.org\\\/&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:8964,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.firearmsfoundation.org&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.fpcactionfoundation.org\\\/&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>\nGov. Andrew Cuomo and the State of New York were sued yesterday in US District Court for the Northern District of New York over the state&#8217;s ban on tasers and stun guns. The Firearms Policy Coalition and the Firearms Policy Foundation sued the state in conjunction with Middleburgh, NY Mayor &nbsp;Matthew Avitabile.<\/p>\n<p>The suit is brought on Second Amendment grounds and follows the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision on a similar Massachusetts case in which they found that a stun gun is covered by the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>From the Firearms Policy Coalition:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<span id=\"gmail-docs-internal-guid-d0318782-d65f-868c-c387-c72c476ba110\"><\/p>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">FPC, FPF, and Mayor of Middleburgh Sue Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York Over Ban on Tasers and Nonlethal Weapons in New Second Amendment Legal Challenge<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">ALBANY, NY and SACRAMENTO, CA (December 6, 2016) \u2014 Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF), and New York resident Matthew Avitabile have filed a federal Second Amendment civil rights lawsuit against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in an effort to strike down the state\u2019s ban on the acquisition and possession of Tasers and other nonlethal (sometimes called \u201cless-than-lethal\u201d) weapons.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Individual plaintiff Matthew Avitabile is the mayor of Middleburgh, New York and would like to buy and keep a Taser for self-defense. But New York Penal Law \u00a7 265.01 states that \u201cA person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon\u201d if \u201cHe or she possesses any\u2026.electronic dart gun\u201d or \u201celectronic stun gun,\u201d making the crime punishable as a misdemeanor.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">The complaint states that, \u201cGiven the [United States Supreme Court] decision in Heller, Defendants may not completely ban the keeping and bearing of arms for self-defense\u201d or \u201cimpose regulations on the right to keep and carry arms that are inconsistent with the Second Amendment.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Earlier this year, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to a similar Massachusetts law, but that case was resolved before a final decision was reached.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Said lead counsel Stephen Stamboulieh about the case, \u201cWe are pleased to be working to vindicate Mr. Avitabile\u2019s Second Amendment civil rights and hope to expand the right to keep and bear arms for all law-abiding New York residents through this lawsuit.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cThe Second Amendment absolutely protects the right of law-abiding people to buy and possess all arms in common use for self-defense, like Tasers,\u201d stated Brandon Combs, president of the Coalition and chairman of the Foundation. <\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u201cWe are more than happy to remind New York that the right to keep and bear arms prevails over paternalistic and unconstitutional statutes like theirs.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Governor Cuomo and Superintendent of the New York State Police Lt. Col. George Beach are named as defendants in the case.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Stamboulieh is joined on the case by attorney Alan Beck of San Diego. Attorney Stephen Duvernay of Sacramento-based Benbrook Law Group and Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor who has written and taught extensively about the First and Second Amendments, are consulting on the case. Before joining the UCLA faculty 20 years ago, Volokh clerked for Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Sandra Day O\u2019Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court. He also operates the popular legal blog \u201cThe Volokh Conspiracy,\u201d now hosted at the Washington Post.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">A copy of the lawsuit\u2019s complaint can be viewed or downloaded at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/legal\/avitabile-v-cuomo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/legal\/avitabile-v-cuomo<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Firearms Policy Coalition<\/span><span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.firearmspolicy.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.firearmspolicy.org<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;\">) is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization.&nbsp; FPC\u2019s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. <\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">Firearms Policy Foundation<\/span><span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\">&nbsp;(<a href=\"http:\/\/www.firearmsfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.firearmsfoundation.org<\/a>) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. FPF\u2019s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and the People\u2019s rights, privileges and immunities deeply rooted in this Nation\u2019s history and tradition, especially the inalienable, fundamental, and individual right to keep and bear arms.<\/span><\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div dir=\"ltr\" style=\"line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;\">\n<span style=\"font-family: &quot;times new roman&quot;; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;\"><\/span><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State of New York were sued yesterday in US District Court for the Northern&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1719,37,19,1509,1720],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-avitabile-v-cuomo","tag-firearms-policy-coalition","tag-second-amendment","tag-stun-guns","tag-tasers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=845"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10901,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845\/revisions\/10901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}