When Landlords Evict Gun Owners

Younger liberals in particular are using a new tactic to rid themselves of responsible, law-abiding roommates who just happen to exercise their right to bear arms – eviction. Many claim the mere presence of a firearm, no matter how well secured it might be, is justification to evict law-abiding roommates.

A firearm, although an inanimate object, somehow causes fear and anxiety in liberals – even when they only suspect a firearm might be present. That in turn causes a knee-jerk reaction that gets people evicted over perfectly legal firearms. A recent example is 24-year-old Harvard University grad student Leyla Pirnie. The Alabama native had the misfortune of sharing a house with several roommates who hate guns and the Second Amendment even more.

Pirnie owns a handgun and had one secured in her room and away from her roommates. Yet, when her roommates learned she had a pro-Donald Trump hat featuring his “Make America Great Again” catchphrase, Pirnie’s liberal roommates freaked out, assumed she was a dangerous owner of firearms, and searched her personal belongings.

One roommate told her the possibility that Pirnie owned a firearm created so much fear that she was compelled to violate Pirnie’s privacy and search her belongings. Another claimed the simple presence of a firearm induces anxiety and deprived Pirnie’s roommates of the right to quiet enjoyment of the premises. While quiet enjoyment of any premises is important, it does not arise to a right – unlike the Second Amendment.

Pirnie says she kept her lawfully purchased and registered handgun hidden away and securely stored. None of her roommates ever saw it. Instead, her orange “MAGA” hat supporting Pres. Trump caused her liberal housemates to assume she owned a firearm. The roommates determined their fear of and anxiety over hypothetical guns trumped Pirnie’s right to bear arms, and they complained to their landlord. The landlord evicted Pirnie, who since made national news for the treatment by her roommates and landlord.

Pirnie’s case illustrates a growing trend embraced by anti-Trumpers and leftists– claiming the mere presence of a firearm, no matter how legally obtained and effectively secured it might be, arises to the level of a direct threat that induces panic among liberals. When that panic takes over, they think it is their right to search for firearms and have owners thrown out. That is what happened to Pirnie, and could happen to virtually any other lawful gun owner.

It’s not just young people who have to worry about being ostracized and evicted for legally owning firearms. Many elderly members of society have acquired firearms over the years and continue exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Fixed incomes and rising costs of living make it harder for many elderly people to remain living alone, particularly if a spouse recently passed on.

When you own a firearm and have roommates in a rented property, virtually all states allow landlords to evict tenants under various circumstances. Those circumstances usually involve discharging a firearm in some way other than self-defense. Whether done accidentally or intentionally outside of a self-defense situation, most landlords can evict owners of firearms, especially if lease terms ban firearms on the premises.

A lease that bans firearms in advance is a legal contract between the signed parties. A lease that does not ban firearms, though, is one that has a strong potential for abuse by those who oppose the Second Amendment and hate people who embrace the right to bear arms.

As Pirnie’s case shows, lawful gun owners are prime targets for abuse of civil rights. All it takes is a claim of fear and anxiety by someone who hates firearms, and that gun owner is looking for a new place to live, getting rid of his or her firearms, or both. The same treatment the Harvard graduate student received from her liberal roommates likely will be repeated at increasing rates across the nation.

They have latched onto a legal gray area and are pressing hard to get gun owners removed. When liberals sense a potential avenue for denying people their right to bear arms, it gets repeated with greater frequency. Count on it continuing, and impacting people of virtually all ages. Soon, liberals might even claim children of lawful gun owners are endangered, and seek removal of firearms or termination of parental rights. Don’t laugh, that’s liberals next steps.