A federal judge has denied the Department of Justice’s request for a 60-day stay of the ruling in Mance v. Holder, which struck down prohibitions on out-of-state handgun purchases. The DOJ made the request for a stay so that it could determine whether or not to appeal the decision. If the decision ultimately stands, it could make it easier for persons nationwide to legally acquire firearms from a variety of sources.
The Mance opinion, issued by a Texas federal judge, found unconstitutional a federal ban on the direct sale of handguns from federal firearms dealers to out-of state residents.
In the decision, the judge wrote that the law could not pass the “strict scrutiny test” that he applied. He wrote, no “founding-era thinking that contemplated that interstate, geography-based, or residency-based firearm restrictions would be acceptable,” and that the law “directly burdens law-abiding, responsible citizens who seek to complete otherwise lawful transactions for handguns.”
From the “Defendants’ Motion For Sixty-Day Stay And Brief In Support,” Civil Action No. 4:14-CV-00539-O, the “Defendants respectfully move for a stay of the Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order dated February 11, 2015 [ECF No. 40] for 60 days, in order to allow adequate time for the government to determine whether to appeal the Court’s decision and, if so, whether to seek a stay pending appeal. The determination whether to appeal is entrusted by regulation to the Solicitor General of the United States.”
Click here to read DOJ’s motion
The post Stay Denied in Mance v. Holder appeared first on U.S. & Texas LawShield.