According to a judge in Illinois, illegal immigrants are allowed to possess firearms.
This month, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Coleman dropped gun charges that were filed against an illegal immigrant in Illinois. In her ruling, she referenced rulings made by lower courts in dismissing the charges that were filed against Heriberto Carbajal-Flores.
In June of 2020, he was found possessing a handgun in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood. He was unlawfully in the U.S. at that time.
Yet, in her ruling, Coleman wrote:
“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.”
The suspect was charged under Title 18 of the U.S. Criminal Code. It states that undocumented individuals are prevented from possessing a firearm or ammunition “or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.”
The defendant contended that he had the firearm for self-defense purposes and for protecting his property “during a time of documented civil unrest.” He also said he was never convicted of a felony, a crime involving weapon use or any other violent crime.
At the time he was arrested, there was civil unrest going on across the entire country following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. He was killed on May 25.
In this ruling, the judge wrote that Carabajal-Flores “has consistently adhered to and fulfilled all the stipulated conditions of his release.” She added that the defendant had employment and hasn’t had any new arrests or any outstanding warrants
Carbajal-Flores has previously made two motions to dismiss the charges, but both of those efforts were denied. Both of those were made in 2022, with the latest coming roughly six months after the Supreme Court struck down a 100-year-old law in New York that required individuals to show “proper cause” to obtain a license to carry a gun outside their home.
In that majority opinion, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote:
“We hold that when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. To justify its regulation, the government may not simply posit that the regulation promotes and important interest.
“Rather, the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
In 2023, Illinois passed legislation that banned “assault-style” weapons in the state, including putting limits on the capacities on magazines.
Jay Oliver, a political commentator, told Newsweek recently:
“Those who are here illegally cannot possess a firearm of any kind that is obtained in illegal fashion. There is a civil duty of gun shop owners, if by that route, to lawfully indemnify those who are trying to obtain weaponry of choice by cutting corners.
“Unfortunately, we have seen too many trends where innocent lives are being lost based on upon the progressive nature of those in charge of courts and opinions.”
