FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
May 23, 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 FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN
LAWSUIT AGAINST CONNECTICUT’S GUN BAN
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange yesterday filed an
amicus brief, or friend of the court brief, that was joined by a bipartisan group of
22 Attorneys General against a Connecticut law banning certain kinds of
semiautomatic firearms. The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Second Circuit as a part of a lawsuit filed by organizations and individual gun-
owners who challenged Connecticut’s gun ban.
“This brief is about protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-
abiding citizens to bear arms in the defense of themselves and their families,”
Attorney General Strange said. “I, and other Attorneys General, believe these
fundamental rights deserve the highest protection and that Connecticut’s gun
ban is unconstitutional under principles the Supreme Court has already
established.”
Alabama was the lead author of the bipartisan brief, joined by Attorneys
General representing Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New
Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah,
West Virginia and Wyoming.
Like the brief filed earlier this month against a similar New York law, this
brief explains that semiautomatic firearms are commonly owned by law-abiding
citizens for lawful purposes. It urges the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to
subject Connecticut’s categorical ban of certain semiautomatic weapons to
heightened scrutiny. The brief argues that, because Connecticut failed to show
that banning semiautomatic weapons would increase public safety or decrease
gun violence, the ban is unconstitutional.
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