Blind Man Wins Court Battle To Own Guns

A blind man has won a court battle to own and fire guns. If this is all familiar, it’s because Guns.com covered the story a few weeks back. Well, now that the legal battle has ended, Steven Hopler, his attorney and his beloved handguns have come out on top.

Hopler has been a gun lover all his life, but diabetes robbed him of his vision in 1991. When Hopler accidentally shot himself in the leg while cleaning one of his weapons in 2008, the police decided that he was unfit for gun ownership (because it’s the job of police officers to decide that, evidently) and removed Hopler’s firearms. Hopler decided to take the issue to the courts.

Hopler’s attorney, Gregg Trautman, claimed that Hopler was just being singled out for his disability, and that the police simply didn’t want a blind man to own firearms. The judge overseeing the case concluded that it didn’t really matter what the police think and decided to give Hopler’s guns back, adding that removing his guns went against his constitutional right to bear arms.

Trautman celebrated the victory when he told reporters, “It’s a hobby and you know what? It’s his right.” Amen to that.

The most amusing thing about this whole tale is that Hopler is apparently a rather good shot. Hopler’s friends claim that he has incredible aim, even now that he is non-sighted. And the state was concerned that he was an unfit owner? Pfft.-[source]