A federal judge in Illinois has found that the Constitution protects the gun rights of noncitizens who enter the United States illegally. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Friday ruled that a federal prohibition on illegal immigrants owning firearms is unconstitutional as applied to defendant Heriberto Carbajal-Flores.
The court found that while the federal ban is 'facially constitutional,' there is no historical tradition of firearm regulation that permits the government to deprive a noncitizen who has never been convicted of a violent crime from exercising his Second Amendment rights. 'The noncitizen possession statute … violates the Second Amendment as applied to Carbajal-Flores,' the judge wrote. 'Thus, the Court grants Carbajal-Flores' motion to dismiss.' Coleman, a President Obama appointee, cited the landmark Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (2022), which established a new standard to determine whether a law violates the Second Amendment. Since Bruen, a multitude of federal and state gun control measures have been challenged in courts with mixed results. DELAWARE BILL REQUIRING GUN BUYERS TO BE FINGERPRINTED, TRAINED, SET TO BECOME LAW In this case, U.S. v. Carbajal-Flores, the court considered whether people who enter the country illegally can be banned from owning firearm