Case 3:13-cv-00739-AVC Document 36 Filed 07/16/13 Page 1 of 46 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT JUNE SHEW, et al., : : : Plaintiffs, : : v. : CASE NO.: 3:13-CV-00739 (AVC) : : DANNEL P. MALLOY, et al., : : : Defendants. : ______________________________ : July 15, 2013 PINK PISTOLS’ AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION Case 3:13-cv-00739-AVC Document 36 Filed 07/16/13 Page 2 of 46 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES .......................................................................................................... ii INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 ARGUMENT ...................................................................................................................................2 I. Under the Principles Established by District of Columbia v. Heller, the Second Amendment Protects Civilian Ownership of Firearms that Are of the Kind in Common Use for Lawful Purposes. .....................................................................................2 A. Heller Forbids Any Form of Interest-Balancing when the Challenged Law Is a Categorical Ban on Particular Firearms. ...........................................................2 B. Under Heller, the Second Amendment Protects the Individual Right to Possess Firearms that are Commonly Used by Law-Abiding Citizens for Lawful Purposes.......................................................................................................4 II. The Act’s Ban on “Large Capacity Magazines” Outlaws a Nearly Universal Feature of Firearms Commonly Used for Lawful Purposes and Therefore Infringes the Second Amendment Right To Keep and Bear Arms. ..........................................................6 III. The Act’s Ban on So-Called “Assault Weapons” Outlaws an Enormous Class of Firearms Commonly Used for Lawful Purposes and Therefore Infringes the Second Amendment Right To Keep and Bear Arms. .....................................................................17 IV. Banning So-Called “Assault Weapons” and “Large Capacity Magazines” Will Do Nothing To Reduce Violent Crime. ...................................................................................26 V. The Sad Truth Is that the Statute Challenged Here Would Not Have Prevented the Atrocity that Spawned It—the Horrifying Massacre at the Newtown School...................36 CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................................38 i Case 3:13-cv-00739-AVC Document 36 Filed 07/16/13 Page 3 of 46 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Page Brown v. Louisiana, 383 U.S. 131 (1966) .....................................................................................36 DeShaney v. Winnebago Cnty., 489 U.S. 189 (1989) ....................................................................12 District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) ............................................................. passim Ezell v. City of Chicago, 651 F.3d 684 (7th Cir. 2011) .............................................................5, 27 Heller v. District of Columbia, 670 F.3d 1244 (D.C. Cir. 2011) ...........................................3, 6, 18 Jackson v. Joliet, 715 F.2d 1200 (7th Cir.1983) ............................................................................12 Kachalsky v. Cnty. of Westchester, 701 F.3d 81 (2d Cir. 2012) ..................................................3, 4 Moore v. Madigan, 702 F.3d 933 (7th Cir. 2012)......................................................................3, 27 Nat’l Rifle Ass’n v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, 714 F.3d 334 (2013) .................................................................................................................13 Piotrowski v. City of Houston, 237 F.3d 567 (5th Cir. 2001) ........................................................12 Robb v. Hungerbeeler, 370 F.3d 735 (8th Cir. 2004) ..............................................................35, 36 Staples v. United States, 511 U.S. 600 (1994) .........................................................................18, 19 Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000) ...................................................................................23 Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzalez, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) ................................................................12 Turner Broad. System v. FCC, 520 U.S. 180 (1997) .......................................................................6 United States v. Skoien, 614 F.3d 638 (7th Cir. 2010)...................................................................27 Statutes 36 U.S.C. § 40701 ..........................................................................................................................16 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) .........................................................................................................................19 CONN. GEN. STAT. §53-202a(1)(A)(i) ......................................................................................24, 30 Connecticut’s Act Concerning Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety, Pub. Act. No. 13-3, Gen. Assemb. B. No. 1160 ........................................................................1 Other 1 HAWKINS, TREATISE OF THE PLEAS OF THE CROWN (1716) ......................................................... 5 1 W. RUSSELL, A TREATISE ON CRIMES AND INDICTABLE MISDEMEANORS (1831) .......................22 3 B. WILSON, WORKS OF THE HONOURABLE JAMES WILSON (1804) .............................................22 Agencies that Carry Colt Firearms, www.colt.com/ColtLawEnforcement/AgenciesthatCarry.aspx (last visited July 12, 2013) ..........................................................................................................22 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN: ARMALITE 50 YEARS (Dec. 2004) .............................................................20 ii Case 3:13-cv-00739-AVC Document 36 Filed 07/16/13 Page 4 of 46 Anthony J. Pinizzotto, Edward F. Davis and Charles E. Miller III, VIOLENT ENCOUNTERS: A STUDY OF FELONIOUS ASSAULTS ON OUR NATION’S LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS (FBI Criminal Justice Inform. Serv. Div. 2006) ...................................................................34, 35 Assault Weapons: A View from the Front Lines: Hearing on S. 639 and S. 653 Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 103d Cong. (1993) (statement of Joseph Constance, Deputy Chief, Trenton, New Jersey Police Department). ..............................................33, 34, 35 Brian McCombie, Up Close with The FBI: The Bureau Emphasizes Close Quarters in New Gun Training, in GUNS & AMMO, HANDGUNS (Aug./Sept. 2013) ................................10, 11 BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS: CENSUS OF STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES (2008), available at www.bjs.gov (July 2011 Report) ................................................9 Centers for Disease Control, Recommendations To Reduce Violence Through Early Childhood Home Visitation, Therapeutic Foster Care, and Firearms Laws, 28 AM. J. PREV. MED. 6 (2005) ...................................................................................................31 CHAD ADAMS, COMPLETE GUIDE TO 3-GUN COMPETITION (2012) ..........................................15, 16 Charles Krauthammer, Column, Disarm the Citizenry, THE WASHINGTON POST, Apr. 5, 1996, at A19....................................................................................................................25 CHRISTOPHER R. BARTOCCI, BLACK RIFLE II: THE M16 INTO THE 21ST CENTURY (2004) .........................................................................................20, 21, 25, 26, 32 Christopher S. Koper, America’s Experience with the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, 1994-2004, in REDUCING GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: INFORMING POLICY WITH EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS (Daniel W. Webster & Jon S. Vernick eds., 2013) .....................29, 35 Christopher S. Koper et al., An Updated Assessment of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Impacts on Gun Markets and Gun Violence, 1994-2003 (2004), Rep. to the Nat’l Inst. of Justice, U.S. Dep’t of Justice .................................................................7, 18, 28, 29 CMP website, http://odcmp.com....................................................................................................16 CMP website, http://odcmp.com/Comm/About_Us.htm. ..............................................................16 CMP website, http://www.odcmp.org/0904/M-16Match.asp ........................................................17 CMP website, http://odcmp.com/NM/Pistol.htm...........................................................................17 CMP website, http://www.odcmp.com/NM/SAFS.htm ................................................................17 CMP website, www.TheCMP.org .................................................................................................16 2012 CMP Sales Catalog .........................................................................................................16, 17 Dan Haar, America’s Rifle: Rise of the AR-15, HARTFORD COURANT (Mar. 9, 2013), http://articles.courant.com/2013-03-09/business/hc-haar-ar-15-it-gun-20130308_1_new-rifle- colt-firearms-military-rifle ..........................................................................................................19