Man Claims First and Second Amendment Rights in Menlo Park, CA

Gun Watch ^ | 6 April, 2018 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

 Image from Michael Zelany Facebook

Menlo Park is part of the San Francisco Bay urban area of California. A free-speech and Second Amendment activist has sued the City of Menlo park and a number of City officials, for denial of his civil rights under the First, Second and  Fourteenth Amendments.  The lawsuit was filed on 28 December, 2017.  On 2 February, 2018, the Palo Alto Daily Post wrote about it.  From padailypost.com:

Zeleny’s suit contends that his protests are an entertainment ‘event” that he’s filming, and therefore he is eligible for an exemption in the concealed carry law that’s used by the movie industry for performers using guns on camera.

“The city asserts that Zeleny is required to have a permit from the city for his events in order to qualify for state law exemptions to the firearm carry ban,” the lawsuit states. “Yet, the city refuses to grant Zeleny a permit for his entertainment events, even though he is willing to comply with lawful time, place, and manner restrictions. Indeed, the city refuses even to advise Zeleny what the requirements are for seeking a permit.

“Instead, the city has made clear that it will not grant Zeleny a permit because it considers his message offensive, and that if he continues his protests, the city will prosecute him for violating California’s obscenity laws and its open and/or concealed carry statutes,” the lawsuit said.

The idea that the carry of firearms is a form of strong, symbolic, protected political speech, is not new. If burning a flag is protected political speech, it is hard to see how open carry of firearms is not, especially in the context of a political protest.

In 2014, in an article published in the New York Times, Patrick Blanchfield came to the reluctant conclusion that open carry can indeed be protected by the First Amendment. Mr. Blanchfield dislikes the idea that carrying weapons is protected speech, but he comes to the correct conclusion:  it is indeed protected symbolic political speech.

...if I stand outside an event featuring the president of the United States with a loaded handgun and a sign invoking Thomas Jefferson’s injunction that the “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants,” I’m in the clear.

Mr. Blanchfield  theorizes about how this may be negative, without mentioning any of the reasons why it can be positive.

In California, free speech is under assault, with "Progressive" activists taking the position that oppositional speech is "hate speech".  This is the default position taken by autocrats everywhere. Speech the authorities do not like is what is banned. As has been noted, no one needs a permit to speak in praise of the government and local elites.

It is especially telling that the Menlo Part authorities will not inform Mr. Zelany of the requirements to obtain a permit for his protest.

It is hard to say if Mr. Zelany will have any positive effect with his lawsuit.

I do not have the expertise to say if the lawsuit is well crafted or not.

The linkage of First and Second Amendment rights is clear.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[marktwain]

California is going full-out authoritarian, verging on totalitarian.

[Vendome]

[Red Badger]

They are becoming the next Venezuela..................

[faithhopecharity]

one may wish to recall that Menlo Park is a sitting target for IslamoNazi terroristas, who are present in that immediate area in large numbers due to SF, Oakland, and the colleges importing them mass-scale...... MP is also a sitting duck of a town for regular old-fashioned criminals of all kinds just seeking expensive German cars to steal, homes with tons of rich goodies to rob, and wealthy residents to stick up and kidnap due to its being part of the Palo Alto 1 percent wealth elite AND its reputed soft political direction of its small police department. Also, Facebook headquarters...can you think of a much more ‘attractive nuisance’ than that for terrorist attacks? ALAS, arresting this guy only reinforces the vulnerable image of Menlo Park, California....I pray nothing super bad happens there! Pray. Pray..

[taildragger]

Charles Murrary a few years ago noted we have grind down the left like they did us, use their tools against them too stop their March, aka use law suits against them.. In my words, Alinski them and drive them broke. Let us hope there are a bazillion more like this in the deep blue States....

[Darteaus94025]

At Easter services, Menlo Church had two armed police present.

[frog in a pot]

The idea...[the carry of firearms}...is not new.

Any candidate for political office should be required to affirm they understand
- the idea predates the U.S. Constitution,
- that the 2Ad protection of that idea was added as a condition of ratification of the Constitution, and
- the oath they will swear will be enforced with regard to any infringement of that idea.

(Full disclosure; I grew up in Menlo Park, CA when it was very much middle America.)

[faithhopecharity]

once upon a time, Menlo Park city decided to dress their cops in business suits to lower their profile and make them look more in sync with the community....

didn’t work well, of course

[BobL]

“Charles Murrary a few years ago noted we have grind down the left like they did us...”

And they do it very, very, effectively. 30 years ago, the thought of two grown men getting ‘married’ was simply disgusting to 90% of the country (if not more)...but now it’s ‘accepted’ by 60% of the country.

So what happened? Did we simply throw away 5000 years of recorded history (not to mention biological requirements for survival) because we became ‘enlightened’? Nope, no way, they simply WORE US DOWN and we hoped the issue would ‘go away’ with giving them ‘marriage’. Obviously it didn’t as we got trannies and now the call for child marriage.

So now we have Camera Hogg calling for some ‘common sense gun safety reforms’...and much of the country again being WORN DOWN by him and ready to accept these ‘reforms’. Does ANYONE think he’ll simply ‘go away’ after he gets these ‘reforms’. Seriously?

[marktwain]

The tool they have used to “wear us down” has been the Progressive (all the old) Media.

I recall when the show “Threes Company” came out in the middle 1970’s.

I thought at the time, “The purpose of this show is to normalize homosexuality”.

That is how they did it.

It has been going on for a hundred years. George Bernard Show was one of the big proponents of destroying Western Civilization.

[LeoTDB69]

“they simply WORE US DOWN”

I don’t think it’s so much wearing us down as it is the fact that the commies realize such change is generational. My grandparents feel the same way they always have but the left understands how change can take 2-3 generations of softening traditional opinions and they do it but control of media, education, etc. They have to reach the children and then their children.

This list read into the congressional record in 1963 is frightening when you consider how much some of these ideas are now ingrained in our culture.

http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/2010/Jun/communism.html

[Sivad]

I agree that they wore US down, Bob, but part of that
was to devalue some big traditions like Christianity,
morals, patriotism, family, respect, etc. I suppose
you could combine the devalue and weardown into one
but it ends up being the same BS.