SECOND AMENDMENT ... NOT IN THIS COURTROOM

Post below recycled from Boortz. See the original for links

There's an upcoming trial in New York City involving a gun shop owner who was sued by the city. But in this trial, lawyers for Mayor Bloomberg are asking the judge to ban any reference to the Second Amendment during the trial.

What the hell? We're supposed to be a nation of laws, and these LAWyers want any mention of the supreme law of the land barred from a legal proceeding?

The trial is set to start May 27. It actually involved a gun shop here in our home state of Georgia called Adventure Outdoors. New York City is claiming that this store is responsible for a disproportionate number of firearms recovered from New York City criminals. This isn't the only gun shop New York City is taking to task ... this is just one of 27 out-of-state gun shops being sued by New York City.

In this case a motion has been filed for Judge Jack Weinstein not to allow the store's lawyers to argue that the suit infringes on any Second Amendment rights of the gun store or its customers. Bloomberg's lawyer who filed the motion is seeking a ban on "any references" to the amendment. The brief says, "Any references by counsel to the Second Amendment or analogous state constitutional provisions are likewise irrelevant."

Irrelevant. Gotta love it. Our Constitution is irrelevant.






CA: Muslim shooter escapes with his life -- so far: "Abdullah ran away from his family in New York in July 2001 to join an Islamic camp in the Tulare County foothills. A month later, he ran off and broke into an unoccupied home near Dunlap in rural Fresno County. When Fresno County sheriff's deputy Erik Telen, 26, and his partner entered the house to investigate, Abdullah shot and killed Telen. Abdullah, who suffers from schizophrenia, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If convicted of first-degree murder and found to be sane, he faces the death penalty. During Abdullah's trial in March and April, defense attorneys acknowledged that Abdullah shot and killed Telen, but said Abdullah was delusional at the time of the crime. Jones told jurors that Abdullah should be found guilty of second-degree murder because he thought he was acting in self-defense. Prosecutor Dennis Peterson, however, said Abdullah should be convicted of first-degree murder because there was no evidence Abdullah was delusional when he shot Telen. Peterson said Abdullah's true motive is a mystery. After a week of deliberations, all but one of the 12 jurors wanted to find Abdullah guilty of first-degree murder. The lone holdout never budged, and the jury announced it was hopelessly deadlocked."


Pa: Thug pleads guilty over death of fellow gunman: "More than three years ago, someone shot 17-year-old Deon Johnson to death during a fierce gun battle in the now-closed Griffith Heights housing complex in Aliquippa. Cotman, 31, of Ambridge, pleaded guilty to a single count of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced by Beaver County Judge Richard Mancini to between 21 and 42 months in state prison for the April 14, 2005, killing of Johnson. Cotman was never accused of shooting Johnson. Instead, prosecutors said that Cotman put Johnson in harm's way, setting off a chain of events that led to the shooting. Aliquippa police said that Cotman drove Johnson into Griffith Heights, where the two jumped out of their car, ducked behind doors and begin firing at people standing nearby. Someone in the crowd fired back, hitting Johnson once in the head. Police said that Cotman threw Johnson back into his car, drove off and then dumped Johnson along Monaca Road. Under questioning by defense attorney Stephen Colafella, Cotman responded, "Yes, we had a gunfight." Cotman wasn't in Beaver County Court Monday. Instead, he appeared in court through a video feed. In March, Cotman was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after his guilty pleas on federal crack cocaine possession charges. Berosh said the person who fired the fatal shot that killed Johnson has never been identified. Even if he or she were, Berosh said, it could be argued successfully that that person was acting in self-defense, since Cotman and Johnson fired first."