SAF Sues San Jose In Federal Court Over Gun Seizure

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Calguns Foundation (CGF) today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of a Santa Clara County resident, challenging the city, its police department and one of its officers over the seizure of firearms under the state’s Welfare and Institutions code.

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SAF and CGF are joined in the lawsuit by Lori Rodriguez, whose firearms were seized in January 2013 after her husband, Edward, suffered an incident that resulted in his transport to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center for a 72-hour psychiatric evaluation. At that time, a dozen firearms that were locked in a state-approved gun safe were confiscated, although the firearms were never involved in Mr. Rodriguez’s incident. “The City of San Jose or any other jurisdiction simply cannot be allowed to seize someone’s legally-owned property because of the actions of a spouse or some other third party,” SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb observed. “We have looked at the state code and have serious concerns about the policies and procedures in San Jose. Lori Rodriguez should get her firearms returned.” The lawsuit seeks to compel the defendants to return firearms to Rodriguez and also pay damages, plus court costs. They also seek an injunction against the city and the police department to prevent future violations. “The city attorney acknowledged that Lori could go out and buy more firearms because she is not prohibited from doing so,” Gottlieb noted. “We think she should get her own firearms returned, and that this continued deprivation of her property needs to stop immediately.” SAF has in the past successfully sued Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, Omaha, New Haven and other municipalities for trampling on the rights of gun owners. “We’ll continue going to court so long as local governments ignore the fact that citizens have civil rights protected by the Second Amendment,” Gottlieb promised. “We’re going to win firearms freedoms, one lawsuit at time.”

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