Dom Kennedy is reportedly suing the Los Angeles Police Department for upholding the “unconstitutional” gun laws that have led to him being arrested in the past. Kennedy filed the suit with Garry Matthews claiming that the city’s licensing scheme violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments.
“The City’s and the Board’s and LAPD’s unconstitutional ‘no-issue’ CCW policies (concealed weapons permit) and other unconstitutional gun control laws, which were officially adopted and promulgated by the City’s policymakers, caused [Dom Kennedy and Matthews] and the other members of the Arrest Class and the Nonresident Class to be arrested and detained merely for the permissible Second Amendment conduct of carrying a handgun for general self-defense outside the home or place of business,” the lawsuit reads.
Rich Polk / Getty Images
In addition to seeking payment for damages and legal fees, Kennedy and Matthews are hoping to have their arrests be ruled null and void. They also want anyone else affected by the laws to have their recorded expunged.
Kennedy’s and Matthews’s lawyer, Jovan Blacknell, explains: “The two key, undisputed facts in this case are that there were no actions that the Plaintiffs or the other class members could have taken during the relevant time period that would have allowed them to carry a handgun for general self-defense in the City of Los Angeles. (1) the City’s Police Chief refuses to issue CCWs for the lawful Second Amendment purpose of general self-defense; and (2) the City’s Police Chief vigorously enforces laws criminalizing carrying a handgun outside the home without a CCW.
“By adopting and following a City policy of refusing to issue CCWs for general self-defense and then by adopting and following a City policy of strictly enforcing State laws prohibiting carrying a handgun outside the home without a CCW, the City violated their Second Amendment rights, and, in the case of Mr. Mathews and the Nonresident Class, the City violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights.”
The lawsuit is also being filed against the City of Los Angeles as a whole and the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners.
[Via]