A gun purchaser has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the records of the gun dealer selling the gun

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the records of gun dealers of one’s prior purchases. The gunsellers have no reasonable expectation of privacy, so it follows that the buyer does not either. Besides, the record is held by a third person. Harrison v. City of Chicago, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45117 (N.D. Ill. June 19, 2007):

Here, the issue is whether a police recruit has a reasonable expectation of privacy in records a gun seller is required to keep with respect to the police recruit’s prior gun purchases. This Court concludes that the answer is no. The Supreme Court has explained that the gun sellers themselves have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their business such that a search warrant is not required to search their premises or records. United States v. Biswell, 406 U.S. 311, 315 (1972) (“close scrutiny of [firearms] traffic is undeniably of central importance to federal efforts to prevent violent crime and to assist the States in regulating the firearms traffic within their borders.”). The Seventh Circuit has described why firearm purchasers have no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to their firearm purchases. City of Chi. v. U.S. Dep’t of Treasury, 287 F.3d 628, 637 (7th Cir. 2002) (“the purchase of a firearm is not a private transaction. The Gun Control Act requires that a transaction for the sale of a firearm be recorded and every dealer is required to make business records available to investigation. Again, every purchaser of a firearm is on notice that their name and address must be reported to state and local authorities and AFT. As a result, there can be no expectation of privacy in the requested names and addresses.”) (internal citations omitted), judg’t vacated on other grounds, 537 U.S. 1229. The Court concludes that a gun purchaser has no reasonable expectation of privacy in the fact of the gun purchase or in the record of such purchase. Because Harrison had no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the records of his prior gun purchases, he cannot prevail on his § 1983 claim against Leracz.

Officer’s reasonable suspicion defendant was transporting drugs equals reasonable suspicion he was armed. (“Courts have recognized that it is objectively reasonable to believe that a person involved in drug trafficking is armed and dangerous.”) A patdown was permissible. Benavides v. State, 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 4802 (Tex. App. — East land June 21, 2007).*

Claim that defendant officer kicked in plaintiff’s door without a warrant to arrest plaintiff for DUI stated a claim, and the officer was denied qualified immunity. Cilman v. Reeves, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45165 (E.D. Va. June 20, 2007).*

Plaintiff was convicted in state court based on the search of his property, and it was affirmed on appeal. He sued over the search, and the defendants did not raise collateral estoppel. The court held that collateral estoppel can be raised by the court on its own motion, so the defendant’s waiver did not matter. He was collaterally estopped by the state court judgment. Best v. Portland Police Dep’t, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44791 (N.D. Ind. June 19, 2007).*

Traffic stop led to officer smelling marijuana when the driver opened the window. The occupants gave conflicting accounts. The marijuana justified the search, and the stories from the occupants justified seizure of the vehicle. United States v. 2004 Silver Chevrolet Minivan, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44866 (D. Neb. June 19, 2007).*