Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In the case of GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc., et al., v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, decided June 9, 2015, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the lower court to deny a request for a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the Corps’ regulation that prohibits loaded firearms and ammunition form federal property managed by the Corps. The rule is located at 36 C.F.R. § 327.13.
The plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction on the grounds that the enforcement of Section 327.13 violates their Second Amendment rights. The federal property in question is Allatoona Lake, a recreational site managed by the Corps of Engineers around the Allatoona Dam in Northwest Georgia. The lower court held that this prohibition did not burden the plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights as it did not regulate firearms possession within the home, and did not effectively eliminate their ability to bear arms outside the home.
In affirming the lower court, the Court of Appeals noted that the Corps of Engineers’ firearms regulation only applies to the Corps of Engineers’ property, and the plaintiffs can “freely exercise their right to bear arms whether within the home or on the streets without running afoul of this regulation”. Finally, the Court of Appeals notes that these proceedings only disposed of the request for a preliminary injunction, and did not address any additional issues that may present themselves when the matter of the request for a permanent injunction is litigated.