After 7 years, will woman EVER get back her guns seized without a warrant?

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Guns belonging to a California woman that were seized without a warrant several years ago must be returned, contends a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court by the Second Amendment Foundation.

The organization is seeking review of the case involving the city of San Jose and its police department.

In 2013, police seized all the weapons from a home where a man had lived before he was taken to a hospital with a mental health issue.

They included firearms belonging to the man's wife, Lori Rodriguez, which were locked in an approved gun safe.

The city simply kept the guns.

The foundation is joined by the California Gun Rights Foundation in the case.

It began when a San Jose police officer advised Rodriguez he had authority to seize all firearms in the residence, including those belonging solely to her.

She objected, pointing out the officer had no warrant.

For seven years the case has been in the lower courts. And even though the judges quickly concluded Rodriguez had done nothing wrong and was allowed to buy new weapons, police kept her old ones.

The most recent action was a ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the police department's seizure.

"This case is a travesty," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of SAF.

"Lori Rodriguez is not a criminal, nor is she prohibited by law from owning firearms. Yet she's essentially been robbed by the city of San Jose and its police department, with the cooperation of lower courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals," he said.

"When a municipal government agency can seize property without a warrant, and be protected by the lower courts in so doing, it is time for the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and right this dangerously tilted ship before it capsizes."

Don Kilmer, a civil rights lawyer working on the case, said Rodriguez "has at all times complied with California’s many gun control laws, including those requiring locked storage."

"But the city of San Jose outrageously continues to refuse to return the constitutionally protected property they unlawfully took from her."

He said governments "have no reason and no right to take guns from law-abiding people who are legally eligible to keep and bear arms, full stop."

"The Constitution does not have a 'gun' exception to fundamental Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, but that is exactly what the Ninth Circuit's dangerous decision means. We hope the Supreme Court will vindicate our clients' rights and restore the rule of law in the Ninth Circuit."