Oregon court rejects gun control group's challenge to Second Amendment sanctuary rule
Gun rights group hails judge’s ruling
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
An Oregon county judge has dismissed a case challenging the validity of two gun rights measures passed by local voters in recent years in a move that Second Amendment advocates are hailing as a "victory with national implications."
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners had hoped for a court to review the Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance and Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance – which prohibit county enforcement of most state and federal gun control measures, according to the Columbia County Spotlight. The newspaper says the Oregon attorney general and lawyers from Everytown for Gun Safety entered their own filings in court opposing the two ordinances, arguing they violated state and federal laws.
"While a governing body may seek review of an ordinance... judicial examination still requires a justiciable controversy," Judge Ted Grove wrote in his ruling issued Thursday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
ACLU SLAMMED FOR ARGUING RACISM IS ‘FOUNDATIONAL’ TO THE SECOND AMENDMENT
"Petitioners have not demonstrated such a controversy," he added, noting that instead they "seek what amounts to an advisory opinion designed to invalidate their own newly passed ordinance."
The Oregon Firearms Federation applauded the case’s dismissal, saying in a statement that "the Columbia County Court shot down ‘Everytown For Gun Safety’, Mike Bloomberg’s New York Lawyers, and the usual gaggle of state worshippers and upheld the County’s 2nd Amendment Sanctuary ordinance, an ordinance the county commissioners hoped to torpedo."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"This is a victory with national implications and a repudiation to the politics of division that Bloomberg and the gun grabbers are so famous for," the gun rights group added.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance, in its language, says "while within Columbia County, this Ordinance preserves the right of any person to keep and bear arms as originally understood; in self-defense and preservation, and in defense of one's community and country, and to freely manufacture, transfer, sell and buy firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition, which are designed primarily for the same purposes and protects ancillary rights that are closely related to the right to keep and bear arms protected by the Second Amendment."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Sarah Hansen, an attorney for the county, told the Columbia County Spotlight that "I strongly disagree with Judge Grove's decision that there is no justiciable controversy in this case and his dismissal of the petition for validation," but added that she is unsure if the county will appeal the decision.