By David Codrea
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- A citizen denied his right to purchase a firearm even though he is not a prohibited person has won admission from the government that his appeal has been recognized, Stamboulieh Law, PLLC announced Thursday. The client has been trying since 2010 to get his denial reversed.
It took retaining a lawyer and filing suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to force the needed government review of the case, and to finally obtain a positive response:
This letter is in response to your inquiry concerning your eligibility to possess or receive firearms. The certified court documentation and/or other pertinent materials submitted have been reviewed. Based on further review and investigation, we have been able to determine you are eligible to posses or receive a firearm. The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division’s NICS Section Firearm Appeal Certificates are enclosed.
Regular AmmoLand Shooting Sports News readers of this column are familiar with attorney Stephen Stamboulieh. He is currently challenging New Jersey carry permit denials and working with the Heller Foundation on appeals in two machine gun cases. Last week it was reported he is representing this correspondent and Kent Terry, brother of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, in a Freedom of Information Act request to determine what State Department communications documents may exist relative to Operation Fast and Furious “gunwalking.”
“While we are certainly pleased with the result, the length of time for appeals is yet another roadblock set up to deny people their fundamental right to keep and bear arms, and it should not have taken an attorney to prove that he was not a prohibited person,” Stamboulieh noted in his announcement.
“The interesting part of this: he appealed a denial in 2010 which apparently was only just handled now after we filed suit. 2010! We have one other case pending in DC right now with a number of cases yet to be filed. Stay tuned for further updates.”
That brings up vital points involving due process and equal treatment under the law. A citizen without the persistence, wherewithal and good fortune of contacting an attorney that is both interested and capable would still be denied his fundamental right to keep and bear arms by the very government that has as one of its primary mandates “to secure the Blessings of Liberty.”
A government that, rather than working to fulfill that requirement has to be dragged kicking and screaming — and to only grudgingly give in when it has no other legal choice — is actively undermining its entire justification for existence.
That goes beyond deliberate indifference to rights. It is active subversion of them.
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and associate editor for Oath Keepers, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
I have a couple of questions. First, after a six year legal battle, what would be the final cost of a firearm??? Second, does someone who fights a six year battle for their fundamental “right to keep and bear arms” still have to go through a “waiting period”??? Just wonderin’.
I have held the FBI in low esteem since I was a cop in Oklahoma in the 80s.
Now, I have nothing but utter CONTEMPT for ALL FLEAs. They have become corrupt, cock-sucking, pig-fucking, statist, sub-human, parasitic, steaming piles of obama.
My name is Neil E. Wright, and I approve this message.
SuperG, the FBI was never substantially better than any other law enforcement agency, it’s just that Hoover put a lot of work into developing a public mystique about them.
Everybody knows the FBI killed John Dillinger, but nobody knows they also shot two bystanders, which ranks with some of the NYPD’s most inept shootouts.
I used to have a lot of respect for the FBI. But nowadays I see it as a lackey for the democratic leftist liberals to support their agendas. The FBI are not there for us anymore. They used to be an intelligence and security agency that also served as the federal law enforcement agency. Now they are turning more and more into the KGB that the Russians used to have. The FBI has now become the political enforcement arm of the leftist liberals.
And,the gun-grabbing democrats are clamoring to add even more names to the prohibited list. One’s right to keep and bear arms may be suspended indefinitely at the whim of a government employed bureaucrat, and it will take years and untold private funds to regain those “unalienable” rights. Freest country on the planet. Yeah, right? Piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining
[W3]
I used to have such high regard for the FBI, now this on top of James Comey’s dishonor, it just belittles their image and makes them appear as Keystone Kops. So sad. Maybe when Donald gets in he’ll revamp them into an organization that Americans can be proud of again.