U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock ruled on Thursday that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s (R) order closing gun stores as “non-essential” business infringed on Second Amendment rights.
The ruling came in a Second Amendment Foundation lawsuit which was filed April 9, 2020. The lawsuit is titled McCarthy v. Baker.
On April 3, Breitbart News reported that Baker was keeping gun stores closed despite Trump administration’s guidelines to the contrary. The Trump Department of Homeland Security released guidelines on March 28, which listed as essential “workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.”
On April 7, the Boston Globe reported that Judge Woodlock had ruled on the gun store closures, saying, “There’s no justification here between the goals of the emergency declared by the Commonwealth and the burdening of the constitutional rights of the defendants in this narrow area.”
Woodlock’s order reopening Massachusetts’ gun stores takes effect at noon on Saturday, May 9, 2020.
Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation, commented on Woodlock’s ruling, saying, “We are delighted at the decision by U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock and the swiftness with which it was reached. Constitutional rights are never put on hold because of an emergency, including the outbreak of a virus. Too many elected officials think otherwise, and we’re having to deal with them one lawsuit a time, same as we’re taking on Governor Baker.”
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, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.