FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
November 17, 2014
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Alabama Attorney General
Claire Haynes (334) 242-7351
Page 1 of 1
AG STRANGE JOINS AMICUS BRIEF
TO PROTECT SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
(MONTGOMERY) -Attorney General Luther Strange has joined an amicus brief,
filed by the State of West Virginia and joined also by 19 other Attorneys General, to
protect Second Amendment rights.
The brief was filed in the case of Kolbe v. O’Malley in opposition to a restrictive
gun law passed by the State of Maryland in 2013. The Attorneys General are asking the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse a decision by the U.S. District
Court of Maryland, which had ruled in favor of the state’s ban on numerous guns.
“The State of Maryland has enacted a law that severely restricts the ability of
anyone in that State to possess or transfer a number of commonly owned firearms,” the
Attorneys General said in the amicus brief. “The ban includes some of the most widely
owned rifles in the United States, including the AR-15. The law also bans the
manufacture, sale, purchase, receipt or transfer of detachable magazines that hold more
than ten rounds – the standard magazines on most modern handguns.”
The Attorneys General assert that “the weapons banned by the Maryland law fall
within the protection of the Second Amendment because they are typically possessed
for lawful purposes, including the core protected purpose of self-defense.”
Attorney General Strange stated, “This brief is about protecting the Second
Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves
and their families. I, and other Attorneys General, believe these fundamental rights
deserve the highest protection and that Maryland’s gun ban is unconstitutional under
principles the Supreme Court has already established.”
In addition to Alabama, the States joining West Virginia in the amicus brief are
Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South
Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
–30–
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov
