Comm2A Challenges Firearms Prohibition for Lawfully Admitted Aliens

Friday, 15 April 2011
Commonwealth Second Amendment (Comm2A) today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging Massachusetts’ near total ban on the possession of firearms by lawfully admitted aliens and an actual ban on the purchase of both firearms and ammunition. Comm2A is joined in bringing this case by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and two British citizens who are lawful permanent residents in Massachusetts. Defendants in the case are two Massachusetts Police Chiefs in their roles as licensing authorities and the head of the Commonwealth’s Firearms Records Bureau.

Under the current law, lawful alien residents of Massachusetts are prohibited from applying for the licenses required to purchase any firearm in the Commonwealth or even to possess most firearms, including all handguns and many rifles and shotguns.

“This lawsuit truly illustrates the contradictory and irrational nature of the Commonwealths’ firearms laws,” stated Comm2A President Brent Carlton. “Governor Deval Patrick’s administration has broadly supported the immigrant community while noting our dependence on immigrants for our continued prosperity. Meanwhile Massachusetts law treats these same individuals as inherently dangerous in order to justify their exclusion from certain fundamental rights protected by the Constitution of the United States. This blanket prohibition runs contrary to the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and today’s challenge is supported overwhelmingly by well-established legal precedent.”

Mr. Carlton concluded, “The state is quite comfortable denying a fundamental right to most of these residents upon whom it claims to depend. Our suit seeks to correct this disparity and ensure that those seeking to participate in the American dream have the right to do so fully.”

More information on the case can be found here.

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Commonwealth Second Amendment (Comm2A) is a Massachusetts based non-profit dedicated to preserving and expanding the rights of gun owners in the northeast. We are dedicated to promoting a better understanding of rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. In addition to organizing and funding a number of exciting projects, our activities include educational programs designed to promote a better understanding of Massachusetts and Federal firearms laws and rights as well as programs to defend and protect the civil rights of Massachusetts gun owners.

Comm2A is currently seeking a determination of 501(c)(3) non-profit status with the IRS. Donations made prior to a determination of non-profit status may not be tax deductible. However, once 501(c)(3) status has been granted all contributors and supporters will receive acknowledgment of their support.