Florida ACLU does the right thing for gun owner

State branches of the ACLU are occasionally more genuine than the national body

Fort Lauderdale lawyer Barry Butin, a cooperating attorney for the ACLU of Florida’s Broward Chapter, is representing the gun owner, 85-year-old retiree Robert Weinstein.

Weinstein, a retired bar and restaurant owner, had his weapons seized in February after his wife of 61 years died. He had complained to the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office that his wife’s ashes had been missing for three weeks and he had not been able to bury them, and, while filing that complaint, said he “wanted to blow his head off.”

A sheriff’s deputy then visited Weinstein’s house, asked for his semiautomatic pistol and his revolver, which Weinstein gave him, and took him to the hospital for an evaluation. It turned out he was just angry, not crazy, but he still hasn’t gotten his guns back.

“Under the Second Amendment, he has a right to have his guns in his house, “ said Butin. “He’s not a convicted felon. It is unusual for the ACLU. But the ACLU supports all constitutional rights. We don’t pick and choose.”

It will be great if that becomes the case, but it hasn’t been in the past. Brandon Hensler, the ACLU of Florida’s communication director, admitted as much, saying: “This is the first time I know of in the ACLU’s 90-year history that we have advocated on behalf of a citizen to have his weapons returned from law enforcement.”

This stance on the part of the ACLU is to be applauded. If the organization continues to move toward supporting all constitutional rights, and stops using so much energy supporting politically divisive movements that aren’t really rights at all, the results could be phenomenal.

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NY: Sudafed robber pleads guilty: "A man, who faked having a gun in his pocket and stole several boxes of Sudafed from the Medi-Cap pharmacy on Main Street in Livingston Manor, Monday pled guilty to a charge of robbery in the second degree. The trial for Leslie Marshall, 43, of Livingston Manor was to have begun on Monday. Marshall admitted to going into the drug store on February 2 and stealing the over the counter medicine and putting his hand in his coat pocket to convince the pharmacist that he had a gun. The pharmacist believed him and in response drew his own licensed handgun in self defense. Marshall took off with the medicine with he saw the gun. He was arrested after an investigation by the State Police BCI."


FL: Elderly woman fends off robber: "Carol Costello, 69, had thousands of dollars in cash on her after unsuccessfully trying to get money orders at a Walmart in South Daytona, according to police. Police said that Shepard and another man followed Costello’s car to Pineapple Street in South Daytona where they boxed her in and Shepard jumped out of the 2006 black Chevy Impala brandishing a silver semi-automatic handgun. According to police, that’s when Shepard began banging on Costello’s car windows. After a few unsuccessful attempts to break the driver’s side window with the .380 caliber Cobra handgun, Shepard jumped on the hood of Costello’s car and used the butt of his gun to break the windshield, according to police. Shepard created a large hole in the windshield and accidentally dropped the gun onto Costello’s lap, according to the report. Police said Costello pointed the gun at the suspect as he ran back to the black Chevy that dropped him off. She tried to drive away but ran into the suspect’s getaway car where she was able to take down the license plate number before the car fled the scene.”


IN: Gun toting more rife in rural areas: "Carol and Mark Roemke readily acknowledge there’s little crime happening around their farm near Harlan. Several times people have tried to break into their tank of anhydrous ammonia, which is used as fertilizer and in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. And for that reason, the husband and wife as well as their sons have personal protection permits to carry handguns. ‘I tell you what, we got it for protection,’ Mark Roemke said. ‘We have our Second Amendment rights, and we take advantage of them.’”