A little bit of history before the article. In response to the incident mentioned at the end of the article, the City of Houston made regs for gun shows on city-owned ppty. They got their tit in the wringer because they let somebody who had no knowledge of guns (Tollett, mentioned below) draft the policy. I have seen interviews with Tollett, and he is not an enemy, he is just an airhead who was trying to keep gun shows open, but guard against idiots (a herculean task, that).
I doubt the city will appeal; now there are new, more sensible regs in place, along with a requirement for all guns being brought in the front door to be checked to see the actions are open & the guns are unloaded. Sheesh.
I have not seen judge Harmon's original ruling, nor is the 5th circuit's decision posted on their website yet, either, so I have no idea if 2nd amendment is mentioned, but I doubt it. This is pretty-much a case of interference in bidness, and in Texas, we take the right to do bidness pretty seriously.
Jan. 21, 2000, 10:11PM
Gun show regulations hit a snag
By MATT SCHWART Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle
The city of Houston this week continued to shoot blanks in its attempt to regulate gun shows at the George R. Brown Convention Center.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that shot down a city ordinance requiring show promoters to remove firing pins and install trigger locks on all weapons displayed at city-owned facilities.
In doing so, the court also affirmed a jury verdict ordering the city to pay more than $383,000 in lost profits and attorneys fees to a Houston gun show operator.
The operator of High Caliber Gun and Knife Shows Inc., Todd Bean, sued the city in 1996, claiming the 1993 ordinance all but banned gun shows from the convention center.
City officials said the intent was to protect public safety, but Bean said the ordinance provisions were too onerous for a small operator to be able to put on a profitable show.
In addition to mandating trigger restraints and the removal of firing pins from all weapons on city grounds, the ordinance mandated that all entrants to gun shows at city-owned facilities fill out forms declaring all firearms in their possession.
"It made it physically impossible to do the shows," Bean said. "They required trigger locks, which would have cost me upwards of $100,000 to purchase. And I'm a one-person operation. It just wasn't cost effective to me. The second part was they required firing pins removed. And not all guns can have the firing pins removed without damaging the guns."
Bean's lawsuit claimed the city was preempted by state and federal law from regulating weapons.
U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon agreed, enjoined the city from enforcing the ordinance and ruled Bean was entitled to damages from the city for the loss of business.
A jury awarded Bean $329,000 in lost profits and more than $54,000 in legal fees.
Bean called Thursday's ruling "vindication for the little guy."
He said that since Harmon struck down the ordinance in 1997, he has held about five shows a year at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The next one is scheduled for Feb. 12-13.
Bean said he hires off-duty police officers to check all weapons brought into the convention center to make sure they are unloaded. He said he uses plastic tie-wraps around the triggers of all guns on display, rendering them unable to fire.
Gerard J. "Jordy" Tollett, director of the city's Department of Convention and Entertainment Facilities, said "I don't know why we can't regulate someone from coming in with a loaded firearm."
Tollett said, "It's a public building. There are other shows in there at the same time. Bullets can penetrate our walls. I just thought it was a very safe way to do gun shows."
Two people were slightly injured at a convention center show in 1990 when a man loaded a handgun he had brought to the show and accidentally fired it while demonstrating to a potential customer. The two people were struck by bullet fragments and taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released.