SAF sues New Mexico over legal resident alien CCW permits

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NEWS RELEASE
Second Amendment Foundation
12500 NE Tenth Place • Bellevue, WA 98005
(425) 454-7012 • FAX (425) 451-3959 • www.saf.org
SAF SUES NEW MEXICO OVER LAW BARRING CCW PERMITS FOR LEGAL RESIDENT ALIENS

For Immediate Release: 4/23/2012

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today filed a lawsuit in federal district court in New Mexico challenging that state’s prohibition on the issuance of concealed carry permits to legal resident aliens.

SAF filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico on behalf of John W. Jackson, an Australian citizen who came to the United States with his wife, an American citizen, in 2007. He obtained permanent resident status in November 2008. They are represented by Albuquerque attorney Paul M. Kienzle, III and Glen Ellyn, Illinois attorney David Sigale. Named as defendants in the case, in their official capacities, are New Mexico Attorney General Gary King and Bill Hubbard, director of the Special Investigations of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.

“Legal resident aliens in the United States should have the same personal protection rights as anyone,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “because criminals do not play favorites. Mr. Jackson is a productive member of his community, and his plight is shared by many legal alien residents.”

According to the SAF complaint, the laws of New Mexico completely prohibit resident legal aliens from the concealed carry of guns, in public, for the purpose of self-defense. In New Mexico, only citizens may have the benefit of an armed defense by concealed carry.

“Our lawsuit is firmly grounded in the recognition and incorporation of the Second Amendment that came with our Supreme Court victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago,” Gottlieb noted. “We also believe the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause renders the State’s ban on non-citizens obtaining a concealed carry permit to be unconstitutional. Mr. Jackson and others like him only seek to be treated the same as law-abiding citizens. The Second Amendment renders a ban such as that challenged in our action to be impermissible.

“We just won a similar case in Massachusetts,” he said, “and we will pursue this case with equal vigor.”

The lawsuit seeks to enjoin King and Hubbard from further enforcing the state ban on the issuance of concealed carry permits to non-citizens, and to declare that the law is null and void because it violates the Second Amendment’s right to keep and bear arms, and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. In addition to the landmark McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court Case, SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; New Orleans; Chicago and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and numerous amicus briefs holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

-END-
Emphasis mine. Great to see SAF following up on the recent victory here in MA.
 
Looking forward to the outcome of that one - in New Mexico the defendant might argue that permanent residents can buy any handgun they want and open carry for personal protection...which was not the case in Mass.
Of course, as the Bill of Rights is not for citizens only there should be enough meat in that argument alone for SAF to win that case.
 
Interesting... I used to work a few blocks from there in Bellevue WA, and I didn't even know they were there. And right up the street from my office was West Coast Firearms where I bought my first gun! Definitely will be interesting to see the outcome
 
Emphasis mine. Great to see SAF following up on the recent victory here in MA.

Don't expect it to be the last either following up fletcher.

Looking forward to the outcome of that one - in New Mexico the defendant might argue that permanent residents can buy any handgun they want and open carry for personal protection...which was not the case in Mass.
Of course, as the Bill of Rights is not for citizens only there should be enough meat in that argument alone for SAF to win that case.

This is not a problem in this particular approach. Unlike some of the carry cases, which were designed for a specific goal in mind, this case lends itself very well to the EP side of the coin. Basically you can't treat aliens differently under the 14th amendment so even if open carry is a legitimate alternative under strict scrutiny, the separate but equal treatment isn't allowed by the 14th.
 
Looking forward to the outcome of that one - in New Mexico the defendant might argue that permanent residents can buy any handgun they want and open carry for personal protection...which was not the case in Mass.
Of course, as the Bill of Rights is not for citizens only there should be enough meat in that argument alone for SAF to win that case.

There are precedents other than Feltcher that deal with the CCW aspect (Say vs. KY comes to mind). The deck is stacked against NM on this one and, in the unlikely event NM prevails, it will place it in direct conflict with other federal courts which is an almost certain route to being granted an appeal.
 
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