By: Anthony Morelli
The government targeted a shooting range owner who was minding his own business.
But they didn’t count on him fighting back against their scheme.
Now his lawsuit could change everything for the gun community.
State and local governments love using things like zoning laws to try to target people that they don’t like, such as owners of firing ranges.
It’s a scheme that seems to be very technical on the surface, but in actuality is being used to further a political agenda and take out gun owners and the establishments they frequent.
But one shooting range owner figured out what the government was up to, and he decided he wasn’t going to be a victim of their anti-gun agenda.
That’s why he decided to fight back with a lawsuit that could put the government on their heels and strike a huge blow for the gun community.
The shooting range is in Michigan, and it is called Oakland Tactical Supply LLC.
Their owner was just minding his own business, and he wasn’t trying to cause any trouble. But when the government came for him, he wasn’t going to simply lie down and take it.
According to Courthouse News Service, “An appeals court panel will decide whether a Michigan township can restrict the operation of an outdoor shooting range under its zoning laws following arguments on Thursday over the application of the Second Amendment to firearm training.
“Oakland Tactical Supply LLC was denied a zoning permit by Howell Township, whose zoning laws forbid the operation of any ‘open air uses, shooting ranges, or rifle ranges’ on land zoned as agricultural residential.
“The gun dealer requested the entirety of the 21-square mile district on which its 352-acre parcel sits be re-zoned to allow for outdoor uses and filed a federal lawsuit when the township refused.”
The township is claiming that they wanted the land to be used for “agricultural purposes” but gun owners can see right through that type of excuse.
They wanted this gentleman off the land because they didn’t like the fact that he was using guns.
The article continues, “Oakland Tactical appealed to the Sixth Circuit and a panel of judges remanded the case in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen.”
The article goes on to say, “The attorney clarified Oakland Tactical and the individual plaintiffs all seek injunctive relief related to the township’s zoning ordinance, while the shooting range also seeks damages.”
This case will go a long way towards determining how far state and local governments can go in using technicalities in the law to derail people’s efforts to operate shooting ranges and other establishments of that nature.
If the court rejects the case of Oakland Tactical, it is a near-certainty that more governments will try schemes like this to shut down ranges.
Gun owners across America are hoping that Oakland Tactical can pull out a win in this case and establish the right for shooting ranges to operate free from government interference.