NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox delivered what was, far and away, one of the best speeches of the NRA Membership Meeting on Saturday. Granted, most of it was the usual political rhetoric one expects at these kinds of meetings, but it was well-delivered and he managed to avoid the sort of, uh, gaffes that others didn’t. The most interesting part of Cox’s speech came at the end, when he discussed the story of Josephine Byrd and Charles Boone, and their legal fight for the right to keep and bear arms . . .
Both Ms. Byrd and Mr. Boone were residents of Wilmington, Delaware and lived in housing facilities managed (or outright owned, in the case of Mr. Boone) by the Wilmington Housing Authority which describes its mission as “to develop safe, decent, and affordable housing for low-income families.”
As you can probably guess, the WHA has fallen a bit short in its stated mission; the places in which both Mr. Boone and Ms. Byrd resided were unsafe with rampant crime. Delaware Online did an investigation on the WHA back in 2006, in an article titled “Trapped in Despair”. Pardon the long quote, but just take a look at what their investigation of WHA housing uncovered:
Wilmington Housing Authority buildings are crawling with crime, drugs and prostitutes. The executive director knows it. The mayor knows it. Lawmakers know it. But the problems persist.
No one knows who stabbed Charles Gordon to death in his Crestview apartment last October, much less why.
Gordon, an amateur boxer who once fought in Baltimore and Philadelphia under the name “Rocking Charlie,” likely put up a fight, even though he was 61 and living in a high-rise run by the Wilmington Housing Authority.
He was found lying on the floor, his head covered with a pillowcase.
Robbery was the most likely motive. A debit card was missing.
“I saw him that night in the elevator, and the next day I heard he was dead,” said neighbor Alfreda Webb, 61. “Crestview used to be a nice place. It was really lovely. Now, if you stay here one day, you’ll see everything imaginable. There’s no security — none at all.”
The Wilmington Housing Authority uses untrained, unlicensed and uninsured workers from temporary employment agencies to safeguard the thousands of vulnerable residents, including the elderly and handicapped, in its six high-rises — a practice residents say isn’t working, and state police say is illegal.
Some of the workers, called monitors, have criminal records. Three years after one monitor pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact, he was working in the high-rises under the supervision of his uncle — WHA’s security chief James Berrien.
From the street, the WHA high-rises appear well maintained, but like a Potemkin village, all is not as it seems, a News Journal investigation found.
Inside, the residents often live in fear, clinging to their dignity. They are black, white and Latino. One thing they have in common is being poor….
Josephine Byrd lived alone at Crestview. “We had a man murdered down the hall a couple of months ago. I mind my own business, keep my door locked.”
It was in this environment that Ms. Byrd and Mr. Boone decided that they wanted to exercise their right to keep and bear arms for self-defense — and, honestly, who in their shoes would not want to do so?
Unfortunately, the WHA decided that its tenants weren’t entitled to exercise that right.
Ms. Byrd’s lease agreement included the following provisio:
Tenant is not permitted to display or use any firearms, BB guns, pellet guns, slingshots, or other weapons on the premises.
Mr. Boone’s lease went even further, stating that residents were:
[n]ot to display, use, or possess … any firearms, (operable or inoperable) or other dangerous instruments or deadly weapons as defined by the laws of the State of Delaware anywhere on the property of the Authority.
Tenants were subject to eviction if they violated the firearms ban.
To their credit, Ms. Byrd and Mr. Boone decided to stand and fight for their rights. With assistance from the NRA, they were able to obtain legal counsel, who helped them take their case on a lengthy battle through first Federal, then Delaware state courts. Despite suffering reverses along the way, they kept up the fight.
In May 2014, they were vindicated. The Delaware Supreme Court, in the matter of Jane Doe and Charles Boone v. Wilmington Housing Authority ruled that the WHA’s leases violated the right to keep and bear arms guaranteed by Article I, section 20 of the Delaware Constitution.
Ms. Byrd was specially recognized at the NRA Membership Meeting for having the guts to stand and fight for her rights. For that, both she and Mr. Boone deserve our applause and thanks. In my opnion, this story needs to be shouted from the rooftops. At its core, the right to keep and bear arms is for people who are the most disadvantaged, the ones on the margins of our society, who live in the worst neighborhoods, who are just worried about doing their jobs and coming home safely.
In other words: the kind of people that folks like plutocrat Michael Bloomberg would rather leave disarmed and powerless.
Francis Pileggi, the attorney who represented the plaintiffs before the Delaware Supreme Court, had this to say about the case on his commercial litigation blog:
[T]he right to self defense, which is at the heart of the right to bear arms in both the U.S. Constitution and the Delaware Constitution, is a natural right that every person is born with. It is not a right granted by the U.S. Constitution. Rather, the U.S. Constitution and analogous provisions in state constitutions recognize this pre-existing right…. One cannot give someone something they already have. Few rights enjoy this exalted status. It is such a fundamental right, it transcends the limited focus of this blog. God Bless America.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
DISCLAIMER: The above is an opinion piece, and is not legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship in any sense. If you need legal advice on this subject, you are strongly urged to hire and consult your own counsel. This post is entirely my own, and does not represent the positions, opinions, or strategies of my firm or clients.
And another gun ban bites the dust. We are honored to know you, Mrs. Byrd.
But…But…But……. we were told that Black Folk Don’t Join the NRA…..
Don’t know if they joined the NRA, but it sure seems as if the NRA joined THEM.
One way or another they got it done.
Ugh. On one hand I want governments to have to pay big when they think it’s okay to play the game where they violate constitutional rights up to the very moment they receive an extra-special invitation to get in line with established caselaw.
…but then I remember where that pay comes from…
I agree with your sentiment. However, legislation that punishes municipalities for violating state gun law preemption …is intended to encourage local politicians to avoid court fights and fines…by clearing the local ordinances. (This was highlighted in the recent TTAG post covering a demonstration in Lower Merion, PA, my township.
It is up to voters to remember if their local politicians blow big money treating people’s 2a rights (or state law) casually. I suppose we’ll see (at least in PA) whether the thought becomes reality. It seems to be working in many localities, but then, of course, you have the “stand on principle” types who inevitably think they’ll gain votes by ignoring the law…at whatever price. Time will tell.
if only we could make those retarded ass lawmakers PERSONALLY LIABLE, then we would never EVER had a another law passed. IMO that’s a good thing, and we need to start rolling back some of the dumb ones we already have on the books.
Why does the feel good story have such few comments?
The story leaves readers feeling so good, and speechless. Personally, the “make their rights available and affordable for those good folks just scraping by” is a core value for me. As people like Josephine Byrd help bring this about, the hard-working adults in poorer urban neighborhoods can put a stop to the culture of predation in their neighborhoods, something Jesse and Sharpton have had zero ability to bring about.
Most small victories such as these – like on a local level, don’t get a lot of attention. Also victories in general get less attention than published injustices against people’s rights that go unpunished or otherwise never addressed.
Good job – Byrd, Boone, and NRA.
Brave New Films has pitched in to fight for the background check requirement in Oregon. They really ought to watch this, because it shows a Brave New Woman, a woman willing to actually do what actually keeps people safe.
We’ll know we’ve really turned a corner when people from Hollywood search out people like this and want to tell their story.
And no. I am not holding my breath.
Congratulations to Ms. Byrd & Mr. Boone. I wonder if this will start another little domino fest at the state level?
God bless this classy lady. All these years, all she has been through and she has a extremely positive attitude and still is fighting the fight.
This warms the heart, & it’s a thing of beauty. Congratulations are due to Mr. Boone & Ms. Byrd for their courage to stand up to the tyranny foisted upon them. Rest in peace Mr. Gordon, I sincerely hope you find better in the hereafter.
Remember all, we still have a long road ahead of us. This fight is never ending, as shall be our vigilance.
I work in Wilmington, DE. The video shows some of the dilapidated housing here in the city. In fact some of the spots in the video are only 2 blocks from the hospital where I work. I regularly hear gunshots. I have to open carry in Wilmington (about to buy a house and haven’t applied for my CCW yet), but then have to leave the weapon locked in my glove box because the hospital is a “Gun Free Zone” (with armed security, no less). I regularly see people stalking around the area. The people with whom I eat lunch feel that the police will protect us if something goes wrong. One person at lunch stated “What is a pistol gonna do? These guys are running around with full auto AK’s.” Well, I’d rather go down with a fight and possibly take the assailants with me than cower in fear before being shot.
Three cheers for Josephine Byrd! You don’t really understand the meaning of “civil right” until your life and liberty are on the line. People like Byrd, Boone, and McDonald came from an era where government was hostile to them. They friggin’ get it.
“If you believe in it, fight for it.” – Josephine Byrd, Freedom Fighter.
Wow. Powerful statement and a wonderful fight for freedom. Classy lady. I am adding that to my list of quotes on gun rights.
Ever since Beau Biden (yeah he’s the son) became AG DE gun laws have been getting worse. CCW reciprocity was rescinded for some states and now DE residents can’t carry with out of state permits but residents from reciprocity states can. The permit system is expensive and lengthy and requires letters from 5 residents. Hardly reasonable.
John Sigler was DE top cop and he worked with Gov Mitner for reciprocity. The Antis have tried to chip away at it ever since
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This is not the first time the NRA came to the defense of blacks living in public housing. Back in the early 1990’s in Richmond Virginia two black women got help from the NRA for their battle for gun civil rights while living in public housing. There are interviews with them on Nightline with Ted Kopel. God bless the good people of the NRA. What happened to the NAACP? crickets
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