Judge Pulls Trigger On Another Gun Limit

State carry restriction blasted by federal court ruling

WND

BOB UNRUH

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in two landmark cases that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to possess firearms, the Second Amendment Foundation has been confronting in court state and local rules which appear to be unconstitutional.

The activist group already has opposed “vague” gun bans in California, a $340 fee for owning a handgun in New York, New Jersey’s arbitrary gun laws, District of Columbia bans, Maryland’s permit demands and more.

Its latest victory has come in Arkansas, where a federal judge ruled the state’s concealed carry licensing law that bans legal resident aliens from obtaining permits is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks, for the Western District of Arkansas, ordered the state to pay SAF $10,000 in attorney’s fees and court costs of $726.41. SAF and Martin Pot (pronounced Pote), a citizen of the Netherlands, were represented by attorney David Sigale of Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

The lawsuit, filed last November, challenged the Arkansas statute, because it “completely prohibits resident legal aliens from the concealed carry of guns, in public, for the purpose of self-defense.”

Col. Stan Witt, director of the Arkansas State Police, was named as the defendant in his official capacity.

“This is yet another victory in our effort to expand Second Amendment protections in the United States,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb on Monday. “Mr. Pot is a law-abiding resident of Eureka Springs, and has been so since 1986. He is self-employed and is a productive member of the community, with an American-born wife and family. He came here almost 30 years ago, met and married his wife, and has many solid connections in his community.”

Arkansas law did allow Pot to have a firearm in his home and on his property. But he was banned from carrying concealed.

“This case is not unique,” Gottlieb noted. “SAF has successfully challenged other state laws, in New Mexico, Washington, Nebraska and Massachusetts. Legal resident aliens should not be penalized at the expense of their self-defense rights. This was a good outcome to a case that should help lots of people.”

The organization, the nation’s oldest and largest focusing on the Second Amendment, has more than 650,000 members and has been working, largely under the radar, for firearms rights.

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Reposted with permission