Group Therapy

Understanding Lawsuits

For about the past quarter-century I’ve been at the Second Amendment Foundation, which is hosting the annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in San Diego in a couple of weeks.

I won’t be attending, as I’m moving several steps closer to retirement from that job. The plan at this writing is to be out somewhere hunting birds and scouting for deer.

But as the curtain closes on this chapter of my life, it seems appropriate to explain why federal gun rights lawsuits take so long. It’s something most people don’t understand. We’ve become too used to court victories by the end of the fourth act, right before the last commercials.

Lower courts, which are full of liberal judges, habitually let Second Amendment cases drag slowly because they don’t like them. My personal theory is that they simply know there’s only one way such cases can be decided according to the Constitution, and some courts just don’t want to go there. Of course, I’ve been mistaken before about courts and judges.

First, acceptable plaintiffs must be found and vetted by the attorneys. Then the federal complaints are filed. Defendants, usually some state official, are allowed time to respond. Then there are motions, typically for a dismissal and/or preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order. Naturally, plaintiffs are given time to respond and file their own motions. At some point, a hearing is scheduled, it is frequently delayed for some reason, and after the hearing, the trial judge takes his or her time to make a ruling.

Still with me? The process described above stretches out over the course of months. Regardless which way the judge rules, there is an inevitable appeal by the losing side. If the judge tosses the case, his decision is appealed, and if the appeals court orders the trial judge to hear the case, that will also take time, more cross motions and on, and on, and on.

The appeal process takes additional months. I’ve seen a couple of these cases stretch out over years. Ultimately, an appeals court hands down a ruling, and then there may be an appeal to the Supreme Court, which may, or may not, grant a hearing.

Now, not mentioned in all of this is the cost of these cases. They can run easily into the tens of thousands of dollars, which is why SAF, the NRA, Firearms Policy Coalition, National Shooting Sports Foundation and other gun rights groups are always involved in fund raising efforts. Attorneys specializing in such cases don’t work for free, and they are typically very good at what they do.

SAF’s Alan Gottlieb some years ago cooked up this motto: “Winning firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time.” It is definitely appropriate.

If we want to protect the Second Amendment, we need to fund the legal work, and don’t become impatient.

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