A Massachusetts appeals court has reversed an earlier lower court ruling that a woman could be denied a carry license because of past incidents involving her husband.
In the case Guinane v. Chief of Police of Manchester-by-the-Sea, the appeals court’s three-judge panel ruled that Barbara Guinane’s application for a license to carry be granted, even though her husband’s LTC had been suspended.
At issue in the case was a police chief’s determination that Ms. Guinane didn’t qualify for a carry permit because her husband’s permit had been suspended because of incidents in which he had acted aggressively and violently during disputes with neighbors. Guinane appealed the decision to the district court, which affirmed the chief’s decision.
“There are reliable, articulable, and credible facts to support the chief’s finding that Ms. Guinane is unsuitable and that issuing her [an LTC] would create a risk to public safety,” the district court ruling stated.
The judge also wrote that the chief had “reasonable and legitimate safety concerns given the ongoing dispute between Ms. Guinane’s family and her neighbors. Moreover, the timing of [her] application, shortly after her husband’s [LTC] was suspended by [the chief], lends credence to the chief’s belief that her application was a pretense to allow her husband to maintain access to firearms.”
The appeals court, however, saw things differently, as reflected in the ruling penned by Justice Peter Sacks.
“Although the chief was understandably concerned about public safety, there was no reliable information about behavior by the applicant suggesting that, if issued a license, she would create a risk to public safety or a risk of danger to herself or others,” Justice Sacks wrote for the court. “That is the focus of the standard.”
Pro-gun group Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) was quick to praise the court for the ruling, with CCRKBA chairman Alan Gottlieb calling it “proper.”
“This is a proper ruling which recognizes that one person may not be penalized because of the behavior of another person, even a spouse,” Gottlieb said in a news release on the decision. “The police chief acknowledged during court testimony there was ‘no behavior by Guinane suggesting that her licensure might create a safety risk.’ You can’t deny one person’s rights based on another person’s past behavior.”
In the 14-page opinion on the unanimous ruling, Justice Sacks further explained the court’s rationale.
“Absent the evidentiary support required by (law), the chief’s concerns, while plainly understandable, were not sufficiently ‘reasonable and legitimate’ to warrant a determination of unsuitability,” he wrote. “As the statute makes clear, denial of an LTC application cannot be based on speculation.”
Ultimately, CCRKBA’s Gottlieb said the ruling shows that freedom is alive even in states that aren’t gun-friendly.
“Even in Massachusetts, common sense can prevail in gun-related cases,” Gottlieb concluded. “Mrs. Guinane’s small personal victory could translate into something more significant for other Bay State residents who may face similar circumstances.”
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