I just learned of a case proceeding in Oklahoma over a new law that makes it illegal for the owner of a parking lot to prohibit guns from being carried within the cars that park there.
The case generally is described in this article: http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2005/08/02/local_news/news/news05.t xt The case is Whirlpool Corp. v. Henry, No. 04-CV-820-H(J) (ND Okla). A certified question (whether violation of the statute is a criminal offense) was answered by a state appellate court here: 110 P.3d 83. An article discussing the general problem of whether to allow guns in cars at one's place of employment is here: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1101738488286 The general question I pose to the list is this: What constitutional or general legal principles govern whether, when, and to what degree a state legislature may intrude on private property rights, particularly the right to exclude others from one's property, as it relates to the carrying or possession of firearms? In Minnesota, a case has just been filed challenging our newly re-enacted shall-issue statute on religious freedom grounds. The churches claim that it violates their free exercise of religion to have to tolerate guns in cars or carried on the person in their parking lots, and to have to post signs of specific description and wording in order to exclude guns from their buildings. One of the claims is under the takings clause. The same plaintiffs, in an earlier suit, had made the same argument, though the case was disposed of on other grounds, so the takings question was never reached. Their memorandum of law is here: http://www.fredlaw.com/news/conceal/SingleSubjectandTakingsSummaryJudgmentBr ief.pdf, with the takings argument starting on p. 18. So the more specific question is this: Are state restrictions on the rights of private property owners to exclude persons carrying guns (on their person or in a car) legitimately analyzed as a taking, either a physical or a regulatory taking? Discuss amongst yourselves. -- Bob Woolley St. Paul, MN [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Democracy has at least one merit, namely that a Member of Parliament cannot be stupider than his constituents, for the more stupid he is, the more stupid they were to elect him." -- Bertrand Russell _______________________________________________ To post, send message to [email protected] To subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/firearmsregprof Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be viewed as private. Anyone can subscribe to the list and read messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the messages to others.
