Orlando Sentinel by Scott Maxwell
May 9, 2018
Give Attorney General Pam Bondi credit (six words I don’t write very often) for standing up to the NRA in an unusual battle over secrecy.
The latest development has Bondi fighting back against the NRA’s desire to add anonymous “Jane Doe” plaintiffs to its lawsuit challenging restrictions on gun sales to people under the age of 21.
Basically, the state is arguing that, if someone claims they have been victimized by a law, the public deserves a chance to vet those claims … something you can’t do when you don’t even know who the alleged victim is.
While secrecy is sometimes allowed in rape or other cases involving “information of the utmost intimacy,” the state argued that the NRA’s desire for secrecy “does not provide a sufficient basis for overcoming the strong presumption in favor of open judicial proceedings,” according to the News Service of Florida.
Also, there’s another key reason to ask the NRA to prove its claims … because it has a shaky track record when it comes to claiming victimhood.
Years ago, when the NRA was pushing for an open-carry law, NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer claimed: ”Numerous people have been arrested and charged with ‘brandishing’ when the wind blew open a jacket or they reached up and a firearm was exposed.”
Yes, criminal wind gusts.
