Filed! Response to "Emergency" Stay
88 Minutes of Freedom Isn't Enough
Hello SMF Family! This week has been a whirlwind with case deadlines for both medical freedom lawsuits and, of course, our Washington v. Gators Guns victory on Monday. As you may recall, Judge Bashor granted an injunction on ESSB5078 stating that “the state has no interest in enforcing an unconstitutional law.” Thank you, Judge Bashor! We agree! For 88 minutes, we had our win! Enter, Bob Ferguson. The state issued an immediate motion for an “emergency stay” reiterating the “public health” emergency that LCM’s present.
Below is the response written by Attorney Austin Hatcher (way to go, Austin!) and the accompanying Declaration citing to the recent Order Denying Stay; Expediting Appeal in Arnold v. Kotek, No.: A183242 issued TODAY. Great victory in Oregon!
Critical Points from our Response
The Stay was granted due to a purported public health emergency. However, the State’s own experts highlight the speculative nature of the purported harms of a public health emergency. One such statement was provided by Dr. Lou Klarevas, “one of the foremost experts on mass shootings” according to the State’s Motion, at 20-21, lists the mass shootings that resulted in double-digit fatalities in U.S. History from 1776-2022, and only one occurred in Washington, and that shooting did not involve LCMs. Further, Exhibit C to Dr. Klarevas’ report, titled High-Fatality Mass Shootings in the United States, 1990-2022, identifies 94 mass shootings, with only three occurring in Washington State. These are just two data points that show that mass shootings are not a regular occurrence in Washington state so there is no public health emergency.
The State asserts that the lower courts ruling is debatable. The appellate standard requires debatable issues and some sort of harm or weighted factors in favor of the moving party, in this case, the State. The State hinged their Stay on the assertion that their disagreement with the lower courts decision is enough of a standard to meet the “debatable” requirement. If that's the standard, then the fact that we're litigating things demonstrates that debatable issues always exist in an appeal. Not only does the State lack the evidence to back up their claims of debatability but the State in its request for an emergency stay does little more than regurgitate its arguments made in its cross motion for summary judgment, which was denied in its entirety.
There is no evidence that banning LCM’s reduces mass shootings. This goes back to our original point that there is a lack of evidence of a true public emergency due to the minimal number of incidences in Washington state. Furthermore, nearly a third (27) of the mass shootings compiled by Dr. Klarevas “occurred at a time when and in a state where legal prohibitions on large-capacity magazines were in effect statewide or nationwide.”
The Balance of Harms Weighs in Favor of Dissolving the Stay. When assessing this case and others like it we look at a balance of equities: A fundamental individual right to possess and operate a firearm versus the theoretical harm that could occur with a mass shooting. Again, there is no evidence to support States assertion that banning LCM’s is a benefit to public health.
The hearing for this case is scheduled for Wednesday, April 17th at 3:30PM.
You can tune in to the hearing at the public link HERE.
We are excited about this case despite the pushback from the State upon the ruling from Judge Bashor. Was anyone really surprised though? As we prepare for the hearing next week, we appeal to our supporters for the funding for this case. Please consider a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation to our second amendment fund. Thank you and God bless you!
Even if one believes that interest-balancing should be applied in this matter, I don’t even see how the state can win that argument. It’s a solution for a problem that basically didn’t exist in our state to begin with, and we haven’t exactly seen a downturn in the criminal misuse of firearms over the two years since the ban was signed into law.