ERIE — A gun club owner and the Second Amendment Foundation are suing Robinson Township and zoning officer Mark Dorsey, alleging that a local ordinance infringes on the club owner's constitutional right to bear arms.
William Drummond, GPGC, and the Second Amendment Foundation filed a complaint on Aug. 24, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, against the defendants alleging that they violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendment rights to equal protection, property, and livelihood by "subverting the club's operation."
According to the complaint, after receiving a third legal complaint, the gun club and members are "being deprived of their right to keep and bear arms as defendant's Zoning ordinance barred the operation of center-fire rifles," according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiff alleges that the club has been providing people a safe location to learn and maintain proficiency in the use of firearms for nearly 50 years. The plaintiffs allege defendants stalled the club's operation and "refused to grant it the approval to which it was entitled, buying time in which to zone the club out of existence," according to court documents.
The plaintiffs hold Robinson Township and Mark Dorsey responsible because the defendants allegedly enforced a zoning ordinance under the color of law that deprived plaintiffs of equal protection of the law that infringes on the club owner and its members right to keep and bear arms.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek permanent injunction, compensatory damages, costs of suit, and any other further relief as the Court deems just and appropriate. They are represented by Alan Gura of Gura PLLC in Alexandria, Virginia.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:18-cv-01127-MRH