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Gun Group Sues School for Allowing MMM leaflet
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Gun Group Sues School Board for Allowing "Million Moms" to Distribute Gun-Control Leaflets to Kids
Submitted on: April 12, 2002
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39eb7e372f3f.htm
MONTCLAIR -- A gun-rights group has sued the school board, claiming free-speech rights were violated when officials allowed an anti-gun group to distribute political leaflets to school children but barred a pro-gun group from doing so.
The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs claims that a group called the "Million Moms" obtained permission in June to send a leaflet home with 4,000 students calling for a rally in support of a state Senate bill that would ban the sale of firearms that don't have certain safety devices.
When a group called "Moms for Gun Safety" asked the school board's Department of Instruction for permission to distribute their own leaflet announcing a rally against the bill, they were denied, the lawsuit claims.
"They were told that they can post their leaflet but not give it out," said Nancy Ross, a spokeswoman for the ANJRPC, a Pine Brook-based group associated with the National Rifle Association. "That's a big distinction."
The federal lawsuit, filed Friday in Newark , is brought by the ANJRPC, Moms for Gun Safety, and several residents of Montclair. In a press release, Ross and others allege that the school board was attempting to use "its influence over students to push a particular political agenda."
A spokeswoman for the school board confirmed Friday that the "Million Moms" were given permission to distribute the flier but the other group was only allowed to post its leaflet on a bulletin board. Superintendent Michael J. Osnato did not return a phone call seeking further comment.
"Million Moms" -- a group associated with the large gun-control demonstration held each year in Washington, D.C. -- was not named in the suit, and representatives could not be reached for comment.
Experts in constitutional law said the school board's decision was a clear violation of the First Amendment.
"In this case, I think the Board of Education better have good insurance," said Earl Maltz, a law professor at Rutgers University-Camden. "They basically forced students to be couriers for a very heated political issue without letting the other group have their say. You're immediately inviting trouble doing this."
Others agreed.
"It's very clear that when a government body opens up a forum on public policy, they have to open it up to all," said Alan Tarr, director of Rutgers-Camden's State Constitutional Center.
The bill, which passed the Senate in May and is awaiting a vote in the Assembly, would bar firearms dealers from selling any handgun that does not possess the technology that enables only an authorized or recognized user to pull the trigger. The bill is sponsored by Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco R-Union.
Gun-control issues have been a heated issue in Montclair ever since a gunman killed four people and critically injured a fifth in a 1995 robbery of a post office.
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Submitted on: April 12, 2002
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39eb7e372f3f.htm
MONTCLAIR -- A gun-rights group has sued the school board, claiming free-speech rights were violated when officials allowed an anti-gun group to distribute political leaflets to school children but barred a pro-gun group from doing so.
The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs claims that a group called the "Million Moms" obtained permission in June to send a leaflet home with 4,000 students calling for a rally in support of a state Senate bill that would ban the sale of firearms that don't have certain safety devices.
When a group called "Moms for Gun Safety" asked the school board's Department of Instruction for permission to distribute their own leaflet announcing a rally against the bill, they were denied, the lawsuit claims.
"They were told that they can post their leaflet but not give it out," said Nancy Ross, a spokeswoman for the ANJRPC, a Pine Brook-based group associated with the National Rifle Association. "That's a big distinction."
The federal lawsuit, filed Friday in Newark , is brought by the ANJRPC, Moms for Gun Safety, and several residents of Montclair. In a press release, Ross and others allege that the school board was attempting to use "its influence over students to push a particular political agenda."
A spokeswoman for the school board confirmed Friday that the "Million Moms" were given permission to distribute the flier but the other group was only allowed to post its leaflet on a bulletin board. Superintendent Michael J. Osnato did not return a phone call seeking further comment.
"Million Moms" -- a group associated with the large gun-control demonstration held each year in Washington, D.C. -- was not named in the suit, and representatives could not be reached for comment.
Experts in constitutional law said the school board's decision was a clear violation of the First Amendment.
"In this case, I think the Board of Education better have good insurance," said Earl Maltz, a law professor at Rutgers University-Camden. "They basically forced students to be couriers for a very heated political issue without letting the other group have their say. You're immediately inviting trouble doing this."
Others agreed.
"It's very clear that when a government body opens up a forum on public policy, they have to open it up to all," said Alan Tarr, director of Rutgers-Camden's State Constitutional Center.
The bill, which passed the Senate in May and is awaiting a vote in the Assembly, would bar firearms dealers from selling any handgun that does not possess the technology that enables only an authorized or recognized user to pull the trigger. The bill is sponsored by Senate President Donald T. DiFrancesco R-Union.
Gun-control issues have been a heated issue in Montclair ever since a gunman killed four people and critically injured a fifth in a 1995 robbery of a post office.
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878