An Obama judge has ruled that an illegal immigrant was unjustly prohibited from owning firearms, overruling a federal law, which prohibits illegal immigrants from possessing firearms or ammunition.
Section 922 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code prohibits illegal aliens from owning and carrying firearms, however U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, who was appointed by Barack Obama, claimed the section violates the Second Amendment rights of illegals.
Identified as an illegal immigrant, Heriberto Carbajal-Flores faced charges in 2020 when he was discovered in possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol in Chicago, despite being aware of his illegal status in the United States.
Judge Coleman initially rejected two dismissal motions but eventually dismissed the case on March 8 after a third motion cited a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
In her 8-page ruling, Judge Coleman asserted, “The noncitizen possession statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores. Thus, the court grants Carbajal-Flores’ motion to dismiss.”
Attorneys representing Mr. Carbajal-Flores argued that illegals should be allowed to arm themselves and while they are in the United States. According to the lawyers, the federal government failed to demonstrate that the law was “part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms.”
The Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling emphasized that the Second Amendment “presumptively protects” activities explicitly outlined in its “plain text,” requiring regulations to be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.
Mr. Carbajal-Flores’s lawyers argued that “lifetime disarmament of an individual based on alienage or nationality alone does not have roots in the history and tradition of the United States,” citing various rulings that interpreted the Supreme Court’s decision.
Despite objections, the Obama judge sided with the illegal, claiming his Second Amendment rights must be respected.
“The court finds that Carbajal-Flores’ criminal record, containing no improper use of a weapon, as well as the non-violent circumstances of his arrest do not support a finding that he poses a risk to public safety such that he cannot be trusted to use a weapon responsibly and should be deprived of his Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense,” she wrote.
An attorney representing Mr. Carbajal-Flores declined to comment on the decision, while federal prosecutors did not respond to a request by The People’s Voice for comment.
