Justice is blind, and so is the Second Amendment: Blind man can keep his guns

A blind gun collector can keep his gun permit and will have the weapons
previously seized from his house by police returned to him, following a
judge’s order handed down Friday in Superior Court in Morristown.

Steven Hopler, 49, of Rockaway Township won the latest battle in an ongoing
war over his Second Amendment rights. The Morris County Prosecutor’s office
had asked Judge Thomas Manahan to revoke Hopler’s firearms ID card and seize
all guns in his possession, arguing Hopler abused alcohol and posed a danger
to others by being a gun owner.

In his written decision handed down Friday Manahan said he believed Hopler,
who completed an NRA Home Safety Course, is well-versed in how to handle a
firearm. He also noted two Superior Court judges previously permitted him to
purchase firearms.

In 2004 Hopler successfully challenged the Rockaway Township police chief’s
refusal to give him a gun permit because of a municipal court conviction for
being unruly in a bar.

And in 1994 when the township police revoked a gun permit after learning he
was blind, Hopler appealed and was allowed to keep his permit on the condition
he fire weapons only in the presence of an adult trained in the use of firearms.
This condition still stands.