Law Offices of Martha A. Dean, LLC

Law Offices of Martha A. Dean, LLC ... because your rights and your freedom matter.

144 Reverknolls Avon United States

1-860-676-0033

       ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: Our firm represents commercial establishments, land owners, outdoor shooting ranges and select individuals with environmental compliance, enforcement defense, dispute resolution, cost recovery, remediation, and legislative/policy objectives. We are committed to providing the highest quality legal services in an efficient, creative and cost-effective manner.  We serve as compliance/enforcement defense counsel to corporations on the full range of environmental and hazardous chemical/worker safety issues. We frequently work collaboratively with teams of legal and technical experts to assess and develop strategies for resolving clients' legal issues in the context of complex business transactions and liability disputes. 

     SHOOTING RANGE DEFENSE: We have achieved unparalleled success defending outdoor shooting ranges in litigation around the country. We also provide environmental, safety, and noise-related strategic advice and legal guidance to shooting ranges. 

     CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: We challenge inappropriate government action under the federal and state constitutions, appealing adverse decisions where appropriate. Past cases have involved the state's balanced budget amendment, free speech/campaign finance issues, arbitration clauses in adhesion contracts and the rights of consumers to a jury trial. Currently, we serve as local counsel to a national team representing organizations and individuals who are challenging Connecticut's post-Newtown firearms law under the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

       Whether on the public policy or the practical side of the law, we have distinguished ourselves by identifying cost-effective, creative, fast-track approaches that bring finality to difficult situations.

RECENT NEWS...

May 24, 2022

Court rules Granby officials had no right to block gun club’s rifle ranges

By Jim Russell | Special to The Republican

GRANBY, MA — Town officials had no business forbidding Granby Bow & Gun Club’s 1,000-yard and 500-yard shooting ranges, according to a state Land Court decision. The court, in a ruling last week, annulled cease-and-desist orders issued by the Granby Zoning Board of Appeals dating back to 2017. The court determined the zoning board had wrongly denied the club grandfather rights to build rifle ranges on its property at 85 Chicopee St., which covers 278 acres on the border with Belchertown. It said the club was formed 75 years ago, in 1947, prior to when zoning bylaws were enacted in Granby, and that the shooting ranges therefore constitute a preexisting, nonconforming use that is entitled to be grandfathered. Neighbors in Granby and Belchertown complained to officials in both towns about noise and potential safety issues after the 1,000-yard range was built in 2016. Their complaints resulted in the zoning board’s cease-and-desist orders against the club in 2017 and in 2020. The board in 2017 determined the 1,000-yard range constituted an “expansion” of the grandfathered use, saying new permits were needed. The gun club then sued the town, filing an action in Land Court in Boston. Judge Howard P. Speicher’s May 18 decision in the case says in part: “At least as early as the 1960s, the rifle range was comprised of various targets placed at different distances and locations, including 100-, 600-, 900-, and 1,000-yard targets.” The club’s President Andy Mercier, in a written statement, said: “At last, we can get back to allowing our members to develop proficiency in the safe use of firearms on our beautiful property and well-run ranges, offering premier shooting competitions, and growing our membership to sustain the Club for future generations.” The statement was issued by Connecticut attorney Martha Dean, one of the lawyers retained by the club. Also representing the club has been Connecticut attorney Nathaniel Schindler and the Worcester law firm Raphaelson and Raphaelson. Attorney Justin Raphaelson told The Republican on Tuesday that the zoning board has “a 30-day appeal period, and we are waiting to see if they take that route.” The Granby board is represented by attorneys Ben Coyle and Ryan O’Hara of Bacon Wilson PC in Springfield and Northampton. The newspaper reached out to the firm to see if an appeal is planned.

https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/05/court-rules-granby-officials-had-no-right-to-block-gun-clubs-rifle-ranges.html


2021 - Oakland appellate (6th Cir.) press release

CINCINNATI, OH (June 8, 2021) — Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of an opening brief in the appeal of Oakland Tactical Supply, LLC v. Howell Township, Michigan, which challenges zoning restrictions imposed by the Township that prohibit shooting ranges for long guns. The appellants are represented by attorneys Joseph Greenlee, FPC Law’s Director of Constitutional Studies, Adam Kraut, FPC Law’s Senior Director of Legal Operations, Peter A. Patterson of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, Martha A. Dean, and Roger L. Myers. The brief can be found at FPCLegal.org.

Howell Township regulates approximately 20,000 acres of unincorporated land in Livingston County, Michigan, under its zoning ordinance, which specifies the uses allowed in each zoning district while prohibiting any that are not listed. Oakland Tactical wanted to build an outdoor, long-distance shooting range on land in an Agricultural Residential District that was formerly a rock quarry. Howell, however, does not permit such ranges in any district, resulting in a prohibition on training with constitutionally protected arms within the township.

In September, the district court granted the Township’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying that the plaintiffs failed to state a Second Amendment claim and that “the ordinance appears on its face to allow shooting ranges in districts other than those designated AR.” As a result, the plaintiffs appealed.

The appeal’s opening brief argues that “[t]he Second Amendment guarantees law-abiding citizens the right to train in the use of ‘Arms,’ including at shooting ranges and including with long guns, for lawful purposes,” and “[b]ecause training with long guns and for lawful purposes in Howell Township requires outdoor, long-distance shooting ranges, such ranges cannot be banned.”

Additionally, the brief argues that “at the time of the Founding, keeping and bearing arms included training with long guns for lawful purposes,” noting that “Americans’ success in the Revolutionary War was widely attributed to their familiarity and training with arms,” with one example being that “[t]he Continental Congress used Americans’ firearms training to warn King George III that Americans would make for a formidable foe.”

“Firearms training is not only protected by the Second Amendment, but it is essential to the exercise of other rights protected by the Second Amendment,” explained Greenlee. “The right to defend yourself, your family, and your community with firearms would mean little if it did not include the right to maintain proficiency with those very arms. We are hopeful that the Court will recognize the importance of this right, reverse the lower court’s decision, and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with the Second Amendment.”

https://www.firearmspolicy.org/fpc-files-opening-brief-appeal-challenging-ban-on-shooting-ranges