“When public housing bureaucracy collides with basic human survival, common sense usually takes a hit. Torrey Holliday learned this lesson the hard way in St. Louis,” Grafana reports. “After using a firearm to stop an armed robber who targeted him in his own apartment building lobby, Holliday didn’t receive support from his landlords. Instead, he got an eviction notice.”
Fox2Now St. Louis provides a photo of the eviction notice, which checks off “Criminal activity” as the reason for the wheelchair-bound victim’s eviction. Except that’s a bureaucratic kneejerk assessment, not that of law enforcement.
“Police and prosecutors looked at the exact same evidence and labeled Holliday a victim of a crime who acted in strict self-defense,” the Grafana report explains. “Meanwhile, the St. Louis Housing Authority reviewed surveillance footage of the July incident, ignored the criminal charges against the intruder, and decided that defending your life constitutes a lease violation.”
If the Housing Authority had bothered to look before (metaphorically) pulling the trigger, they’d have known that discriminating against armed residents in public housing has been challenged before, with results in different jurisdictions showing the courts consistently frowning on it.
Back in 2019, in Doe v. East St. Louis Housing Authority, a case championed by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Illinois State Rifle Association, “A federal judge ruled … that the East St. Louis Housing Authority cannot deny, through rules and regulations, a tenant’s right to lawfully own a firearm.” Per US District Court Judge Phil Gilbert:
“Among whatever else, the Second Amendment protects the rights of a law-abiding individual to possess functional firearms in his or her home for lawful purposes, most notably for self-defense and defense of family.”
True, St. Louis falls under the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, while East St. Louis is under the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. But that hardly means different rulings should be expected, particularly in light of other judgments, including:
In 2022 (Columbia Housing & Redevelopment Corp. v. Kinsley Braden), “the Second Amendment Foundation scored a victory in a ruling by a Tennessee Appeals Court panel striking down a gun ban by a public housing authority in the community of Columbia on the grounds it violates the Second Amendment, citing recent Supreme Court language in the case of New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.”
In 2023, SAF “won a permanent injunction against the Warren County, Ill. Housing Authority’s ban on the possession of firearms by residents or guests.”
And in 2024 (Hunter v. Cortland Housing Authority), “the court entered a stipulated permanent injunction blocking the firearm and social media censorship bans, removing lease prohibitions, and awarding $150,000 in attorney fees.”
The question now is, will Mr. Holliday challenge his eviction, and will he be backed by Second Amendment advocacy groups, or will the Housing Authority realize the error of its ways and do the right thing by reversing its decision and apologizing for its tyrannical arrogance?
Noting who runs the Board of Commissioners and the Leadership Team, with majority commission appointments serving at the pleasure of Mayor Cara Spencer, who as alderwoman defied state preemption and pushed for an open carry ban, looking for an easy way out seems overly optimistic.
As a frequent WarOnGuns contributer observed, “This is one of those ‘fait accompli’ government actions. They know it’s illegal, but by the time anyone can get a court to rule that, the troublemaker will already be in other lodging and unlikely to come back.”
Related Reading:
Public Housing’s Predicament, 2A Rights Do Not Stop at Front Door
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
