N.Y. LAWSUIT OVER PISTOL LICENSE SUSPENSION TO MOVE FORWARD

BELLEVUE, WA – BELLEVUE, WA – A ruling by a federal magistrate allowing a lawsuit by a Nassau County, New York couple whose pistol licenses were suspended for 13 months because their daughter had been admitted to a hospital for mental health treatment is the “right thing to do,” according to the

Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

David and Christine Ganz are seeking damages because their licenses remained suspended even after a police official “saw no issue with Plaintiffs remaining in possession of their secured firearms,” according to the ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks. In his ruling, Judge Wicks observed, “Defendants cannot automatically suspend a license when it is based on a cohabitant’s existence of a volatile situation and not that of the licensee. There is no historical analogue.” The judge subsequently noted, “Defendants failed to overcome the constitutionally protected presumption of the Second Amendment.”

In his 32-page ruling, Judge Wicks notes that the plaintiffs supplied photos of their biometric gun safes to police, who acknowledge their firearms were properly stored and further, it was never alleged that their guns were accessible by anyone other than Mr. and Mrs. Ganz.

“The constitutional rights of one individual cannot be arbitrarily denied because of the conduct of another individual,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “The rights of Mr. and Mrs. Ganz were infringed because of some drawings by their daughter, who was under treatment and who told police investigators her artwork did not depict any sort of threat. Yet, for more than a year, their constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms was suspended. 

“What we find distressing about this case is that this sort of thing can happen at all, anywhere in the United States,” he observed. “No policy or procedure allowing this kind of nonsense should exist in any jurisdiction, and yet, according to the judge’s ruling, the Nassau County Police Pistol Licensing Section has a handbook for dealing with this kind of situation. We will be watching as this case moves forward, with a trial seeking damages set to begin March 1, 2027.”