Monroe County has abandoned the argument made in its response to a federal lawsuit that the Second Amendment does not apply to private citizens.
Deputy County Attorney Robert Shoemaker originally made the argument in response to a complaint filed by the Firearms Policy Coalition. The national gun rights nonprofit had sued Attorney General Letitia James and three district attorneys, including Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley, over a statewide ban on civilian use of body armor.
Shoemaker submitted his original response to the complaint on Sept. 18, including a defense reading: “There was and will be no Constitutional violation in enforcing the statute because the phrase ‘bear arms’ is a 1791-era idiom referring to military or militia service. Plaintiffs have failed to plead their involvement in a militia.”
That argument seems to contradict the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in the landmark case District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the majority ruled that the Second Amendment does not just apply to militias.
WXXI News reported on the unusual legal argument on Sept. 26. The next day, a new response to the complaint was filed by Shoemaker. It is identical to the previous filing, but with the Constitutional argument removed.
The county’s defense now relies largely on arguments that the coalition failed to state a claim and that the body armor ban has never been enforced in Monroe County.
A spokesperson for the county has not returned a request for comment on the issue.
