As I’ve noted, many jurisdictions have repealed their bans on stun guns. People v. Yanna (Mich. Ct. App. 2012) struck down one such ban on Second Amendment grounds, and in Caetano v. Massachusetts, the Supreme Court rejected some of Massachusetts’s arguments in favor of the stun gun ban. The court sent the case back to Massachusetts courts so that they could consider the other arguments, but prosecutors decided to just drop that prosecution, and even agreed to the entry of a formal not guilty finding.
Now, the Center for Individual Rights — an excellent public interest law firm, for which I’m an unpaid legal adviser — is challenging the Massachusetts stun gun ban in federal district court, in Martel v. Healey. The briefing has recently completed, and I thought I’d pass along the briefs; because the plaintiffs and defendants have both moved for summary judgment, there are four briefs, and they are somewhat repetitive:
- The challengers’ opening brief in support of their motion for summary judgment.
- The state’s brief opposing the challengers’ motion, and supporting its motion for summary judgment.
- The challengers’ reply brief, and opposition to the state’s motion for summary judgment.
- The state’s reply brief.
And here is a long excerpt from the challengers’ second brief (No. 3 in the above list), which should offer a sense of the argument:
A. Defendant’s suggestion that Tasers and stun guns are not arms protected by the Second Amendment is incorrect.
According to D.C. v. Heller, the Second Amendment guarantees “the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.” Heller ruled and Caetano reiterated that “the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms.” Defendant’s contention that Tasers and stun guns are not protected is simply wrong. And as a matter of fact, the Mass.gov webpage titled “Massachusetts Law About Guns and Other Weapons” cites to Caetano for the proposition that “a stun gun is protected by the Second Amendment.” See http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/laws-by-subj/about/weapons.html No court has held otherwise.
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