Gun rights group files suit to reopen state ranges
Closing indoor shooting ranges temporarily to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is illegal and unconstitutional, a group of gun-rights activists argue in a new lawsuit.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League and several other groups, including a shooting range in Lynchburg, are asking for a temporary injunction blocking part of Gov. Ralph Northam’s March 23 executive order, which deemed those businesses nonessential and required them to close during the pandemic.
The 37-page lawsuit, filed Thursday in Lynchburg Circuit Court, says Northam doesn’t have the authority to close the shooting ranges and the executive order violates people’s right to bear arms, so the shooting ranges should be allowed to reopen. The lawsuit also names Gary Settle, the superintendent of the Virginia State Police, as a defendant.
The VCDL previously sent Northam two letters asking that he exempt shooting ranges from closure during the coronavirus crisis. The group didn’t get a response.
The lawsuit cites the Virginia Emergency Services and Disaster Law of 2000, which says the governor doesn’t have the power to limit or prohibit the use of firearms, except “to the extent necessary to ensure public safety” in places used as emergency shelters. It also cites the section in the Virginia Constitution that says the right to bear arms shall not be infringed.
The plaintiffs say it was disrespectful to call shooting ranges an “indoor public amusement,” which the order puts in the same category as movie theaters and bowling alleys.
“By ordering indoor shooting ranges closed, individuals are prevented from being able to hone their skills and proficiency in order to bear arms safely, efficiently, and effectively, should the need arise,” the gun groups wrote.
At least one gun range owner in Hampton Roads told The Virginian-Pilot he wouldn’t reopen his business even if the executive order was amended. The case will be heard in Lynchburg at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
This is at least the fourth lawsuit filed against Northam’s executive order. On Thursday, a judge in Russell County denied a request for a temporary injunction regarding part of Northam’s stay-at-home order, which says religious gatherings of more than 10 people are banned.
Russell County resident Larry Hughes said the governor’s stay-at-home order to combat the spread of the coronavirus infringed on his religious freedom and sought, at a minimum, an exception that would allow attendance at Easter services this Sunday.
Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring’s office defended the executive order, saying it should remain intact because carving out an exemption “would seriously undermine the Commonwealth’s efforts to slow the spread of a once-in-a-century pandemic.”
Two similar lawsuits have been filed in federal court in Alexandria. One seeks a religious exemption to the order similar to what was sought in the Russell County case. Another lawsuit challenges the executive order in its entirety.