Judge: Ralph Northam Lacks Authority to Close Indoor Gun Range During Coronavirus Shutdown

Circuit Court Judge F. Patrick Yeatts issued a temporary injunction on April 27, 2020, explaining Governor Ralph Northam (D) lacks the authority to close down a Lynchburg, Virginia, indoor gun range amid the coronavirus shutdown.

Yeatts ruling came in Lynchburg Range and Training v. Ralph Northam, a case brought by Lynchburg Range and Training after Northam refused to recognize indoor gun ranges as essential businesses. The result was that indoor gun ranges had to close during the statewide shutdown.

Northam allowed outdoor ranges to remain open and responded to the suit by claiming Virginians who wanted to shoot could simply use an outdoor range instead of one indoors. But Yeatts noted, “The Governor failed to provide evidence that there are any outdoor gun ranges in Lynchburg, which has an ordinance that allows the discharge of firearms only at approved gun ranges.”

Yeatts noted the Court could not find an outdoor gun range inside Lynchburg city limits either and pointed out “the right to keep and bear arms is not relegated to the outskirts of the city” to begin with.

He also observed Northam’s defense that the order closing gun ranges is only temporary does not pass muster, saying, “The temporary violation of a Constitutional right itself is enough to establish irreparable harm.”

The case was heard in the Circuit Court for the City of Lynchburg.

The Associated Press quoted Attorney General Mark Herring’s response to the ruling: “Governor Northam’s efforts to save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19 are necessary and proving to be effective, but unfortunately, the gun lobby believes the ability to shoot a gun indoors during this pandemic is worth risking further spread of the virus and making Virginia communities and families less safe.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.