Judge Drops Firearms Charges Against Illegal Alien

AP Photo/Marina Riker, File

"Laws? Where we're going, we don't need any laws."

Rather than a line from the script of a futuristic movie, that may now be an emerging legal concept in the courts of Illinois. This month, an Obama-appointed judge in the Northern District of Illinois dismissed illegal firearm possession charges against an illegal immigrant named Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who had been found in possession of a handgun in Chicago in 2020. Judge Sharon Coleman ruled that Carbajal-Flores' record did not support a finding that he might be a threat to public safety or that he should be deprived of his Second Amendment rights. Wait a minute... what? (Newsweek)

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A judge this month dropped gun charges against an illegal migrant in Illinois, sparking further debate about the rights associated with the Second Amendment.

U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois referenced lower court rulings in dismissing firearm possession charges against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores, who was illegally or unlawfully in the United States when he possessed a handgun in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on June 1, 2020.

"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," Coleman, who was appointed under President Barack Obama, wrote in her eight-page ruling filed March 8.

Has Judge Coleman ever by chance heard of Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code, specifically the Gun Control Act (GCA), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)? If not, allow me to offer my services in clarifying that law. Under 922(g), it clearly states that it is "unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition." It specifically calls out nine categories of persons who fall under that rule. The fifth one reads, anyone "who is an illegal alien."

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While the Bill of Rights is widely interpreted as applying to everyone in the country (though that has been disputed as well), it has long been settled law that the government has the right to exclude people from Second Amendment protections under certain circumstances in the interest of maintaining public safety. We can also add to that, the fact that the above-referenced U.S. Criminal Code also prohibits the possession of firearms or ammunition by "anyone who has renounced his or her United States citizenship." Based on that, would it not be a logical assumption to find that the same prohibition would apply to those who never had such citizenship to begin with?

This is simply incredible, but given the current lay of the political landscape, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. Many people, including elected officials and now, apparently, judges, have been simply ignoring the law if their actions work to the benefit of the army of illegal migrants that Joe Biden has allowed into the country. Want to land a job but you don't qualify for a work permit? No worries! Interested in engaging in prostitution as an illegal migrant? Fear not. The cops won't arrest you. If you're a citizen who can't afford to put food on the table because of Bidenflation and you're caught shoplifting a load of bread and a jar of peanut butter, the police will want to have a word with you. But if you're an illegal migrant, all your meals will be brought to you free of charge in your hotel room, which is also being covered courtesy of the taxpayers.

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The world has been turned on its head. The rights of citizens are slowly but steadily being eroded while the red carpet is being rolled out for those who enter our country illegally. The inmates are running the asylum now and we desperately need major changes in Washington and apparently around the rest of the country as well if there is to be any hope of restoring normalcy.

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Ed Morrissey 12:40 PM | November 21, 2024
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