On Monday, the U.S. District Court for District of New Mexico ruled that legal immigrants have the same right to obtain a concealed carry permit as citizens. The equal protection clause mandates that those legally residing in the U.S. be treated the same under the law . . .
BELLEVUE, WA – The chief U.S. District Court judge in New Mexico today granted a permanent injunction against the State of New Mexico’s “citizens only” concealed carry law that unfairly discriminated against permanent legal resident aliens in a case brought by the Second Amendment Foundation. Judge M. Christina Armijo held…that there was no evidence showing that granting permits to legal immigrants is more dangerous than granting them to citizens and that the state had provided no support for its contention that its compelling interest in public safety was supported by the law’s citizenship requirement.
The Second Amendment Foundation backed the lawsuit. From the Washington Times:
Alan M. Gottlieb, executive vice president of the foundation, said the discrimination ruling makes it increasingly difficult for gun control advocates to chip away at gun rights. “It helps build case law,” he said. “If legal aliens have rights, citizens obviously do, too.”
There are a number of states that have the qualifier of citizenship in their carry permit laws. It’s likely that all of those qualifiers will soon fall. Equal protection under the law is well established in U.S. jurisprudence.
Another obvious infringement of the right to bear arms is the denial of the right to defend yourself while you are traveling depending on varying state laws. Crossing state lines should not reduce a person’s right to self defense. Residents or legal aliens engaged in interstate travel should not be forced to give up their right to keep and bear arms.
By many estimates, the votes to enact national reciprocity based on the Second Amendment and the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution exist in both the Senate and the House. Only the Senate leadership and the President are preventing its passage. One step at a time.
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.