A three-judge panel unanimously decided that the 2nd Amendment does not apply to illegal aliens in the US 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. This court had upheld a previous ruling from a lower court that the right to keep and bear arms does not apply to those who enter the country illegally.
The court case revolved around Javier Perez, who was convicted for possessing a firearm and ammunition while living in the country unlawfully. Perez had entered the country illegally while at the age of 13 and has lived in the Brooklyn area for several years. While he asserted that he was not part of a gang when he was arrested on weapons charges in 2017 he was noted as being involved with the Los Ninos Malos at one point and time.
Perez was arrested after firing several rounds into the air in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park Neighborhood. Perez had borrowed the gun off of an acquaintance and fired the shots as a means of breaking up a fight between gang members going on nearby. Video evidence confirmed this story but the question of whether or not Perez was allowed to have this handgun remained.
The court ruled that Perez was not entitled to possess a firearm because of his status as an illegal alien. The court made sure to point out that Perez was a resident of the country for 15 years and had no criminal conviction on his record prior to the weapons charge.
On a related note, there have been over 37,00o firearms sales denied as a result of immigration status since 1998.
