Nine years ago, Joshua Wade was lawfully open carrying his pistol while walking on a sidewalk in Ann Arbor. A University of Michigan police officer saw it and volunteered a warning to not cross over onto university property because guns were (and still are) banned. Mr. Wade applied for permission from the University of Michigan Chief of Police (in much the same way that Dick Heller applied in the District of Colombia) and was denied.
This suit was initially filed in the Michigan Court of Claims eight years ago. The Michigan Court of Claims is a court of special jurisdiction where suits against subdivisions of the State of Michigan are brought. The case was initially dismissed by the Court of Claims.
We appealed that dismissal to the Michigan Court of Appeals, which eventually upheld it.
We appealed that ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court, which held our case in abeyance (wait and see) due to the first New York Rifle and Pistol Association (NYRPA) case at the United States Supreme Court, which raised the issue of whether the Second Amendment applies to carrying firearms outside the home. [The facts of Heller v DC were limited to inside the home because Dick Heller’s employment allowed him to be armed outside of his home.] That case was dismissed by the United States Supreme Court as moot because New York changed their statute while it was pending.
Another case was brought by NYRPA which eventually became known as the Bruen case, named after the State of New York official listed as the defendant in his official capacity. The Michigan Supreme Court continued to hold the Wade case in abeyance pending the outcome of Bruen.
Bruen resulted in a pro-gun victory led by Trump-appointed United States Supreme Court Justices who held that the Second Amendment does apply outside the home and that the government bears the burden of proving that any “gun control” regulation comports with the “history and tradition” of firearm regulation in place at the founding. [The Bill of Rights became effective in 1791. Some gun control advocates argue that 1868 should be the date used because that’s when the Fourteenth Amendment made the Bill of Rights applicable to the states.]
The Michigan Supreme Court then remanded Wade back down to the Court of Appeals for further findings consistent with Bruen. On Friday of last week, a two-judge panel of the Michigan Court of Appeals issued their opinion without oral argument. They held that the University of Michigan is a “school” and therefore a “sensitive place” where the government can ignore our fundamental right to effective self defense. We respectfully disagree and believe that significant portions of our argument were ignored, or given short shrift.
So, the fight continues. This case has a decent chance of eventually being taken up by United States Supreme Court to answer significant legal questions regarding the meaning of “school,” the scope of “sensitive places,” and the extent to which governments may endanger citizens’ lives by ignoring fundamental rights based on junk science.
During the approximately eight years that this case has been pending, hundreds of hours of research and writing and hundreds of pages of filings have been generated. We have at least a year or two more ahead of us. Thus far, MCRGO and The MCRGO Foundation have been significant supporters of this important case. Mr. Wade and I thank all of you who have contributed. We literally could not have come this far without you.
The forces aligned against our right to keep and bear arms are relentless in their attacks on the individual right to self defense. Get some rest. We attack again at dawn.
-Steve Dulan
Attorney for Plaintiff, Mr. Wade
Member, MCRGO Board of Directors
MCRGO Note: Donations to the MCRGO Legal Defense Fund can be made HERE.
