Landlord Prohibits Firearms on Property

gamma19

gamma19

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UPDATE: I sent the agent an email requesting that the clause referring to firearms be struck, and that I have an LTC and follow all fed/state/local gun laws. He talked it over with the landlord and agreed to remove it entirely, but with no explanation beyond that.

I am moving and recently got an offer on a new apartment. The rental agent sent me a copy of the lease to review (which I have not yet signed). I found this little doozie buried a couple pages in:

"Firearms: Any firearms and/or ammunition are strictly prohibited from the property. The landlord or his designee may remove these items at any time without notice and at tenant's expense."

Two issues--first, I question the legality of a landlord (who presumably doesn't have an LTC) stating in writing that they can confiscate my firearms. Second, the agent did say that the lease is just a draft, and that I may request changes to it--now I'm wondering if I should bring up my gun ownership and risk getting the offer pulled, or go the "concealed means concealed route" (though it's difficult to hide a rifle cabinet) and face eviction if found out.
 
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I would cross out that section and send it back or go looking for a different apartment. No way I would sign a contract that allows my land lord to confiscate my guns.
 
wonder if they have their LTC's. If not move in let them take the firearms and call the cops.. muaaha.. but no seriously find a new place if they wont remove that from the lease terms.
 
Ugh find a new place if at all possible. Not the kind of person I would want to be paying every month...
 
DO NOT SIGN THAT LEASE!

Let them know that you are not willng to move into a place that forces you to become defenseless, and that you'll look elsewhere.

Maybe you'll get an opportunity to educate an anti, but don't hold your breath.
 
jason19711971 said:
Unfortunately it's his property. Just tell them you don't agree with the terms. Don't even say why and move on.
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It doesn't always work that way.

Try renting an apartment to someone with a no cornholing policy in the lease, or that bans interracial couples.

Possession of a handgun in the home is a constitutional right, and the courts might not look favorably on a landlord deciding a right does not apply in his apartments (it would be similar to a clause prohibiting tenants from writing letters to the editor favoring Democratic candidates). Of course, we are talking about federal civil rights litigation; not a visit to the zoo they call a court in MA to watch the kangaroos.

The law allows landlords to enter for emergencies or maintenance, but might frown on landlords entering to enforce their own rules or to confiscate property.

Your best shot at changing this is moving in then litigate. Your second best shot is to sue the landlord prior to moving in (but that takes time and does not solve your problem).

I don't know how the rest of the Comm2A team would feel about litigating against a private entity (less direct impact on public policy), but if you are so inclined, could you email a copy of the lease to [email protected] so we can discuss it?

face eviction if found out.
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It would financially difficult for a landlord to evict someone whose rent was up2date for a rule violation like this, particularly if the tenant knew how to work the system, ask for deadline extensions, etc. - and stopping rent while the eviction was in process.

Remember, we would not have equal housing protecting blacks, jews and others from discrimination in sale and rental if everyone followed the solution of "just walk away from a place where you are not wanted".

Even if you take a place elsewhere, you may still have a case, as you will have lost the opportunity to live where you want; might have to pay more elsewhere; have a longer commute; develop migraines over it; etc. 42 USC 1983 might also allow collection of legal feel from the landlord if you prevail.

So, it the words of Scrivener, are you going to validate their behavior by tolerating it?
 
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My guess that this policy would be changed the minute a federal suit is filed.

Landlord's attorney would start by asking "Is keeping this policy really worth $20K to you?"

I wouldn't touch it.
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I would. With the legal system, not self help.
 
Waher said:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ve-a-right-to-bear-arms-even-in-common-areas/

As Rob stated above, civil rights apply in a person's residence regardless of the opinion of a landlord. This has some case law backing it up when it comes to 2A cases across the country.
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And I am sure a competent attorney would cite these cases as precedent. The defense would argue that the 2A is only a limit on government action, and plaintiffs counsel would counter with "If that were true, a no-Muslim clause in a private sector lease would be legal".
 
lancecolonel said:
can a landlord demand that state laws be followed WRT guns as part of the lease?
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Doesn't really matter does it? Does a landlord generally put in the lease "tenant must follow all laws with respect to possession of illegal drugs, underage alcohol, counterfeit money making equipment.......yadda yadda yadda"? It is not the landlord's responsibility to enforce all laws of with respect to the tenants that reside on the property. That said......someone that owns fire arms needs to sue this ******* and make a point.
 
This sounds like a great opportunity to get comm2a involved. If not for yourself, for others.

Mike

Sent from my cell phone with a tiny keyboard and large thumbs...
 
I can only image what kind of issues might come up down the road with this guy. There are plenty of other places on the market, with less invasive terms. I would see that as a bad omen of things to come from this lefty.
 
Everything in life is negotiable. I'd ask whether that clause could be stricken from the lease. It's possible that the landlord has put that clause into the lease because of a bad experience with, e.g., a previous tenant who had a ND in the apartment and placed other tenants in the building at risk. If so, perhaps OP could convince the landlord that they're more responsible. If OP runs up against a brick wall...yeah, time to look elsewhere.

I'd love to see a lease clause like this invalidated by a lawsuit, but, being involved as the plaintiff in a lawsuit like this drains a significant amount of someone's time and emotional energy even if the legal fees are being covered by an org like Comm2A. Only OP can make a decision on whether that's worth it versus simply finding another apartment.
 
whacko said:
Doesn't really matter does it? Does a landlord generally put in the lease "tenant must follow all laws with respect to possession of illegal drugs, underage alcohol, counterfeit money making equipment.......yadda yadda yadda"? It is not the landlord's responsibility to enforce all laws of with respect to the tenants that reside on the property. That said......someone that owns fire arms needs to sue this ******* and make a point.
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it doesn't matter to me personally, but i'd still like to see my question answered.
 
rivet_42 said:
I'd love to see a lease clause like this invalidated by a lawsuit, but, being involved as the plaintiff in a lawsuit like this drains a significant amount of someone's time and emotional energy even if the legal fees are being covered by an org like Comm2A. Only OP can make a decision on whether that's worth it versus simply finding another apartment.
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You can still file suit even if you find another apartment. As I said before, there are still damages.

As long as you are not waiting for the outcome (holding out to actually move to this place), a suit funded by other would not be much of a drain of time or emotional energy. It would involve one meeting with the attorney, providing documents, then sitting back and watching the show. You might not even need to show up in court, since the fact the clause was in the proposed lease would be established by paperwork and probably not under dispute.

I am a named plaintiff in Draper v. Healey, and I assure you it not a time or emotional energy drain.
 
Oh my what a delectable, scrumptious, and delicious lawsuit you would have.

Sign the lease. If he wants to evict you, he will be unable to since he must go through court. A court will have to find the landlord to be in violation of your rights. No landlord could afford that legal fight since he will lose.

This could set a precedent for gun rights.

There was a lawsuit years ago about guns public housing and the tenant won.

But then again there is the case of the old disabled vet in a wheel chair who was robbed of pills 6 times and they want to evict him for owning a gun.

Compare notes with his lawyer.
 
I would not sign that but I think it is worth asking him to remove that from the lease if he wont I think you should sue sounds like a good case to me
 
drgrant said:
**** those people and stay away.
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This! After reading that line I would have told them to go **** themselves. On principal alone I would never give them one red cent of my money. Whether they removed that restriction or not. Why would you chose to do business with someone who tries to restrict people's civil right as a matter of course? Not when there are ANY other options.
 

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