Sidewalks in School Zones

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You would be legal, because you are on private property.[/quote]

Thanks! That was what I was thinking, however, I wanted to throw the question out there. I imagine it doesn't matter if the business is located in a strip mall? The school zone rule really only applies to regular roads and sidewalks, correct?

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You help make my point. It was argued by Hamdan (and at least one judge agreed) that the adoption of 25 essentially wiped out 941.23. The final ruling was that 941.23 could not be applied to Hamdan's case but generally was still valid. Cole was prior to Hamdan and rejected a facial challenge. Hamdan was an "as applied" decision. Unfortunately, you can only find out whether you're protected by the constitution, after the fact.

Lammie wrote:

There really isn't anything to trump. Article I section 25 addresses the right to carry. 941.23 addresses a manner of carry. As the SSC stated 941.23 is constitutional because there is an alternative manner of carry by which the people can exercise the right given by Article I section 25;visible carry. In Hamdan the SSC referred to the two manners of carry as hidden and visible. The constitutionality of 941.23 because it is a restriction on the manner of carry and not the right to carry was re-affirmed by the SSC in para. 28 of State v. Phillip Cole.

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Mike wrote:

apjonas wrote:

"Mistake of law" is not a defense to a criminal charge

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huh? Go back to the horn book my friend.

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I prefer the "Nutshell" series. Ok, since I didn't qualify my statement, I will yield to you on this point. Let me say that "mistake of law" is very, very rarely a defense to a criminal charge. In the situation we are discussing, a letter from the local district attorney stating that sidewalks are not part of the GFSZ is not likely to stop a prosecution, particularly by the feds. Would you rely on such?

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Lammie-

One thing to note is I actually live on a county trunk (the old Chicago-Green Bay Military Road), and some county and state roads are indeed owned publicly. I did what you did and looked at my deed, and as far as I can tell, I do not own the land under the road in front of my house, but I do own to the center of the side street where my garage is located. Id like to get a surveyor to weigh in on this, as well.

Funny story:long before I bought the house, they had moved Hwy 33's route locally, and the measurements for my property were all based off the old location. It had been like that for decades, changed hands several times, and no one had noticed! It was like pulling teeth to get the idiots at the title insurance company to change it, too.

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Rick:

So far I have concentrated on Town roads and City streets. They are the ones that would affect most of us. The evidence is pretty stong that the towns and cities own the easement which they use to create a PROW (public right of way). The property itself is fee title owned by the adjacent property owners ( defined in various documents as "Freemen") which in my opinion make the city streets, town roads, sidewalks and boulevards in front of residences andbusinesses private property. The document from Del Mar California supports that theory.

It is possible that most county, state andfederal roads,as well as freewaysare on land actually purchased for the purpose, similar to the way the railroads bought up land in the 1800's. Railroad property, of course, is privately owned. However, land purchased by the mentioned goverment units would be considered public property and off limit to firearm carry if within 1000 feet of the specific schools the statute 948.605 applies.

The search goes on. Unless it is me I am surprised on how difficult it is to find a definitive answer to the question.

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apjonas:

What information do you have that sidewalks are not considered private property?

If you do not have such information, how then, would you suggest the information be obtained?

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Lammie wrote:

apjonas:

What information do you have that sidewalks are not considered private property?

If you do not have such information, how then, would you suggest the information be obtained?

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The appeals court of the only other state to have such a "school zone" statute, california, has held that sidewalks are not private property for the purposes of the school zone gun bans - now the text of the 2 stautes are most likely different so the case may not be exactly on point, but it should be obvious that sidewalks are not really "private property," they are for public use - a home owner cannot exclude people from the sidewalk for example.