Expert: Dean Speir - 7/27/2009

Question
QUESTION: This is not a request for legal advice. I will contact an attorney for legal advice. I understand that you are not an attorney. This is just a request for expert opinion regarding individual constitutional rights.

I know of a situation where a disabled man was arrested for having a collection of old west antique firearms in his private home that he owned. The police searched his home and arrested him for having the antique guns, not for buying or selling, just for possession of guns from the 1800's.

Do any second amendment rights apply to a person who just collects antique firearms?? Does the second amendment set a limit on how many antique guns a person can own?? Are there any amendmends that may pertain to this situation. Again, this is not a request for legal advice.


ANSWER: Based on the information you've provided, I can offer no opinion, expert or otherwise.

My only comments are that, given what you've outlined, if the disabled person was in fact arrested, then either you do not know, or have you presented, all the facts of the matter.

You should also be advised that the Second Amendment has nothing to do with "collecting firearms," antique or modern.

Therefore the basis of you question is ill-informed and ill-advised.

In short, it simply does not compute, and I question why you are even asking the question... there are no Constitutional issues apparent as you have framed the matter.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:  I have presented all the facts as they were presented to me. I am just trying to get an explanation that I can understand.
Do you know if there is a limit to the number of pre 1898 firearms one can own??
Now, here is the Constitutional issue that I am questioning,
Can the police obtain a search warrant to search ones home when no crime has been committed by the person who owns and lives in said home?
Has a new law been passed that allows the police to obtain a search warrant for no disclosed reason, storm a private residence and search for guns and anything else that they may consider illegal.

ANSWER: You really don't comprehend simple English, do you?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: There is no reason for the reply you have given to me. I am just a person who was trying to better understand the laws pertaining to my situation.  I will try to improve my english comprehension skills while I am serving out my eight year prison sentence.

Answer
O, you are incorrect, sir. There absolutely was a reason to answer that way!

Having told you that your inquiry was in no way a Second Amendment issue, that "collecting firearms" was not covered by the Constitution, and as politely as possible informed you that the information you have presented doesn't make any sense, you have persisted in returning here and pushing the matter.

If you are in fact THE mid-'50s Gary Granato of Staten Island who was arrested in March of this year for possession of "an arsenal of rifles, shotguns, handguns and ammo" in your home, I feel very badly for you, especially if you have already been convicted and are serving an "eight-year sentence."  

I remember that incident, saw the photos of the "arsenal" and wondered what the NYPD's beef was. I never saw an inventory of what was seized, but in the published photos, I didn't see any of the reported (.38 Special, 9mm) metallic cartridge handguns which would have gotten you in trouble under NYC's draconian and unfairly administered Handgun Laws.

The only thing I noted at the time was that there appeared to have been a number of long guns which should have been registered, under the Lindsey Administration's 1967 legislation (http://www.thegunzone.com/rkba/rkba-34.html).

Again, while this is NOT a Criminal Justice topic, the case does interest me as a fellow New Yorker, starting with how you come to be convicted in such a short time without a Guilty plea.

And if you pled Guilty, then your attorney explained to you precisely what you were doing, and what your options might have been.

And on the off chance that you were incarcerated without entering a Guilty plea, then perhaps you went straight to jail for violation of an old probation or parole.

So, g'luck to you, but again this is not a Second Amendment issue, rather it is a Criminal Justice matter, and you must have already had legal representation somewhere along the line. Check with that attorney.