Gun Seizure Class Action Alleges NY Violates Constitutional Rights

A gun seizure class action lawsuit has been filed by a New York resident against state Governor Andrew Cuomo and other government officials, alleging the state of New York violated constitutional rights by confiscating New York residents’ firearms based on illegally reported mental health information.

Plaintiff Donald Montgomery filed this gun seizure class action lawsuit on Dec. 18, claiming the New York SAFE Act has allowed Long Island police to confiscate four pistols from the plaintiff based on the act’s mental health reporting provision.

The SAFE Act, a sweeping gun control measure, was signed into New York state law by Gov. Cuomo last year. Montgomery alleges that because of the act’s mental health reporting clause, Long Island Police were allowed to take his firearms following the plaintiff’s visit to his local Long Island Hospital to seek treatment for sleep problems.

Montgomery claims that the Suffolk County Sheriff’s office, under orders from the state police, seized the plaintiff’s firearms and gun license following his temporary hospital stay. He alleges that information about his hospital stay was wrongfully and illegally reported to New York state as an involuntary admission without Montgomery’s consent.

According to the gun seizure class action lawsuit, a portion of New York’s Mental Hygiene Law created under the SAFE Act requires New York mental health providers to report any patient information that may pose a threat. Because of this provision, the law “unjustly infringes the civil liberties of the plaintiff and all other persons similarly situated, particularly considering that the plaintiff was negative as a threat assessment and not representing any likelihood of imminent threat of harm to himself or to others,” or so Montgomery’s gun seizure class action lawsuit claims.

New York resident Montgomery is a retired detective sergeant who claims that in May 2013 he visited his local hospital to seek professional help for his sleeping issues. After being diagnosed with depression and insomnia, Montgomery voluntarily returned two weeks later to the hospital for a 48-hour stay, which was mistakenly reported by the hospital as an “involuntary admission.” According to the gun seizure class action lawsuit, a few days after the plaintiff was discharged from the hospital, police seized Montgomery’s pistol permit and confiscated four pistols because of the false report of his involuntary hospital commitment.

The gun seizure class action lawsuit claims that this information was reported without Montgomery’s permission or knowledge, and was then stored in a database that could be accessed by state and non-state agencies including local law enforcement. Montgomery further alleges tens of thousands of similarly situated New York residents have also had their personal health information transferred to this database without their consent.

Montgomery claims that the mental health reporting provision of the SAFE Act violates individuals’ right to privacy for several reasons. Even though the law only requires that names and nonclinical identifying information are to be reported, Montgomery alleges mental health providers have released confidential and personal health information. Further, Montgomery alleges, many of the patients who have been reported do not even own guns.

The gun seizure class action lawsuit further alleges the SAFE Act violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause by discriminating against individuals seeking any type of assistance for a mental health professional.

Finally, the gun seizure class action claims the SAFE Act violates the right to bear arms as laid out in the Second Amendment, and additionally violates the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments by taking away the right to bear arms without due process.

Plaintiff Donald Montgomery is represented by Paloma A. Capanna.

The Gun Seizure Class Action Lawsuit is Montgomery v. Cuomo, et al., Case No. 6:14-cv-06709, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York.