NM:Legal Immigrants Have Same Right to Concealed Carry Permit as Citizens

On 31 March, the U.S. District Court for New Mexico ruled that legal immigrants have the same right to obtain a concealed carry permit as citizens.   The equal protection clause mandates that legally residing residents be treated the same under the law.  From Jurist.org:

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.

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 is likely that all of those qualifiers will 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.

It is clear that crossing state lines does not alienate a persons right to self defense.  Citizens who are traveling across state lines do not give up their right to keep and bear arms.  The votes to enact national reciprocity based on the second amendment and the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution exist in the Senate and the House. Only the Senate leadership and the President are preventing its passage.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

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