Former Police Chief Stacey wants gun charge dismissed

[FarmerRick]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120606/NEWS97/120609919#stacey-wants-gun-charge-dismissed

Stacey, 56, made his first appearance Wednesday in connection with a charge that he provided a handgun several months ago to former Gretna City Administrator Colleen Lawry.

Both Stacey and Lawry were charged in May with a Class I misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine, if convicted.

Stacey has acknowledged the gun was his and said he had loaned it to Lawry.

Stacey's attorney, James Martin Davis, submitted a motion to dismiss the charge, arguing that the state law is unconstitutional and substantially infringes on his right to bear arms, which is guaranteed by the Second Amendment and by the Nebraska Constitution.

“You cannot really restrict someone's right to lend or borrow a firearm,” Davis said afterward. “We think the state statute is clearly unconstitutional, and we think the court should find the statute void. We have a pretty good Second Amendment argument.”


     ~~ See more at link ~~


Very interesting developments....  not sure where I come down on this constitutionality issue. 
The purchase certificate is handy at times for some "piece of mind" when selling firearms and for expediency when purchasing from a FFL, but I also feel we shouldn't have to have one.

[bullit]

There is a whole lot of me that would like to see Stacey win on the Constitutional argument, his personal character not withstanding......

[johncavh]

I would think a police Chief should know, if this is right or wrong, if not maybe he should not have been in that position. And why did he lend or give the weapon to the person in the first place

[Ronvandyn]

My thought is would he have arrested one of us for this violation and sent the case for prosecution to the county?  Personally, I believe he would have and not given the constitutional questions a seconds thought.  Not one second. 

I hope this case gets heard again and again in courts of ascending authority.  I have no dog in this fight, so I dont care if he wins or looses, but feel the process of a case like this is of great importance.  He is a citizen now, not a police chief.  He should be treated as one, and not one ounce differently. 

Ron

[NE Bull]

Very interesting developments....  not sure where I come down on this constitutionality issue. 
The purchase certificate is handy at times for some "piece of mind" when selling firearms and for expediency when purchasing from a FFL, but I also feel we shouldn't have to have one.

 

I second that emotion, Rick. 
I also feel as the others do that his having been a police chief shoud have no positive bearing on the case. His peepee should be smacked harder because of that fact.
I hope JMD knows what he's doing. He does a pretty good job at stirring the pot.

[66bigblock]

James Martin Davis = Guaranteed Acquittal

When he walks up the courthouse steps, the whole building shakes.


66bigblock

[00BUCK]

I'd just like to know when it became illegal to lend a handgun to someone. Assuming they are not a felon or otherwise restricted that is. I'm not sticking up for his character - personally I think he is a putz - but I don't see how they can charge him with anything, let alone make it stick.

[Husker_Fan]

Well, it looks like 1991.

http://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=s6924003000

69-2403. Sale, lease, rental, and transfer; certificate required; exceptions.

(1) Except as provided in this section and section 69-2409, a person shall not purchase, lease, rent, or receive transfer of a handgun until he or she has obtained a certificate in accordance with section 69-2404. Except as provided in this section and section 69-2409, a person shall not sell, lease, rent, or transfer a handgun to a person who has not obtained a certificate.

(2) The certificate shall not be required if:

(a) The person acquiring the handgun is a licensed firearms dealer under federal law;

(b) The handgun is an antique handgun;

(c) The person acquiring the handgun is authorized to do so on behalf of a law enforcement agency;

(d) The transfer is a temporary transfer of a handgun and the transferee remains (i) in the line of sight of the transferor or (ii) within the premises of an established shooting facility;

(e) The transfer is between a person and his or her spouse, sibling, parent, child, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or grandparent;

(f) The person acquiring the handgun is a holder of a valid permit under the Concealed Handgun Permit Act; or

(g) The person acquiring the handgun is a peace officer as defined in section 69-2429.

[Mudinyeri]

(e) The transfer is between a person and his or her spouse, sibling, parent, child, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or grandparent

Could "spouse" possibly be extended to include "mistress"? 

[DanClrk51]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120606/NEWS97/120609919#stacey-wants-gun-charge-dismissed
Stacey's attorney, James Martin Davis, submitted a motion to dismiss the charge, arguing that the state law is unconstitutional and substantially infringes on his right to bear arms, which is guaranteed by the Second Amendment and by the Nebraska Constitution.

“You cannot really restrict someone's right to lend or borrow a firearm,” Davis said afterward. “We think the state statute is clearly unconstitutional, and we think the court should find the statute void. We have a pretty good Second Amendment argument.”

Halleluja! There may still be hope for Nebraska. Here we go folks, the person with deep pockets to challenge the constitutionality of the purchase permit who we have been looking for all along has been found in former Chief Stacey

This really is a best case scenario. Now lets just hope he prevails in court and the purchase permit statute is ultimately struck down by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Hopefully Heineman's Supreme Court appointments will pay off in this regard.
I heard this case will go before the federal judge in Douglas County District Court as Sarpy Judges were determined to have too many ties with Stacey. I guess it could go either way.

[JimP]

First things first:

He is a citizen now, not a police chief.  He should be treated as one, and not one ounce differently. 

I was unaware that police chiefs were not citizens, and should be treated differently than a citizen.

Substitute "Subject" for citizen and "Lord" for police chief, and it would make sense in Medieval England .....

He was a citizen when he was the Chief of Police of Bellevue, Nebraska, too ..... if anything, he should be held to a higher standard of conduct than someone without Police Powers: Not only should he have known better, expecting to get away with it simply because of the position he holds is explicit evidence of an "Only Ones" mentality.  I also wonder how many folks he had locked up on this same charge........

I would like to remind all of you that wish to get rid of the handgun firearm purchase permit that your buddy Brad Ashford was going to do that for you, in exchange for a permanent unelected panel to determine what guns were "too dangerous for civilian ownership" ..... that was just a couple of years ago now .........

I like the idea of the Purchase Permit being voluntary ..... but would like to see it as picture ID, instead of and easily forged scrap of paper.......

[DanClrk51]

First things first:
I like the idea of the Purchase Permit being voluntary ..... but would like to see it as picture ID, instead of and easily forged scrap of paper.......

I'm ok with that since that would not infringe on the 2nd Amendment...it being voluntary.

[00BUCK]

Halleluja! There may still be hope for Nebraska. Here we go folks, the person with deep pockets to challenge the constitutionality of the purchase permit who we have been looking for all along has been found in former Chief Stacey

This really is a best case scenario. Now lets just hope he prevails in court and the purchase permit statute is ultimately struck down by the Nebraska Supreme Court. Hopefully Heineman's Supreme Court appointments will pay off in this regard.
I heard this case will go before the federal judge in Douglas County District Court as Sarpy Judges were determined to have too many ties with Stacey. I guess it could go either way.

Say it does get struck down, then doesn't that put us in the pickle of the Brady Bill mandatory wait period? Which would suck more?

[Husker_Fan]

I don't know that there is a federal waiting period anymore.  I could be wrong though.  I've never purchased a handgun without the certificate or my CHP.

[AAllen]

Once the NICS system got up and running they dropped the federal wait period, some states still have a "Cooling Off" period on a transfer but there is nothing in Nebraska law about that.

[00BUCK]

Once the NICS system got up and running they dropped the federal wait period, some states still have a "Cooling Off" period on a transfer but there is nothing in Nebraska law about that.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know that.

[David Hineline]

There is nothing instant about the instant check system. There is busy phone lines, talk to first level, get reference number, talk to second level, then proceed, delay, deny.  Delay can be up to three days, so that's pretty instant.  Plus the fact that every time you buy a gun you are placing a phone call to the government telling them what type of guns long/handgun/other you are buying what day, and where you are buying the gun.

[AAllen]

For anyone interested this case is being carefully observed due to the fact it could have implications beyond Nebraska

[just_me_mongo]

To quote Jim P:

"He was a citizen when he was the Chief of Police of Bellevue, Nebraska, too ..... if anything, he should be held to a higher standard of conduct than someone without Police Powers: Not only should he have known better, expecting to get away with it simply because of the position he holds is explicit evidence of an "Only Ones" mentality.  I also wonder how many folks he had locked up on this same charge........"

This is a classic case of someone in power who believes they are above the law.  I believe that he out of all people should know the law completely as he was former "Chief" of police.

As a civilian and gun-owner, I study and research NE laws constantly so that I can be aware of them.

To me, this is just a way to challenge his charge and also act above the law.  If that gun permit ends up being deemed unconstitutional in court.... I WANT A REFUND!!!!

-my 2 cents