In the March 8 decision, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled in the case of Hariberto Carbajal-Flores, who was possessing a handgun when he was arrested by Chicago police in 2020. Carbajal-Flores, who was charged with violating the “non-citizen possession statute” in federal law, argued he had the constitutional right to possess a firearm for self-protection in the city’s dangerous Little Village neighborhood.
Mike Hammond, legislative counsel at Gun Owners of America, says the ruling created intense discussion among his colleagues.
“We had a big, big discussion,” he tells AFN, “and no one could agree on what position we should take on this judge.”
As far as Hammond's legal views, he says he separated the issue of illegally crossing the border, which is a crime, from constitutional rights that are guaranteed on U.S. soil.
“I guess my general attitude,” Hammond says, “is that you can't basically allow them to pour across the border and then say, ‘Oh, well, we kept them from getting guns. So we're okay.’”
U.S. courts over the years have dealt with other constitutional cases involving non-citizens, such as unlawful search and seizures under the 4th Amendment, and due process rights guaranteed under the 14th Amendment.
Hammond says others at the Gun Owners meeting shared a far different opinion.
“Such as our attorney Rob Olson,” he says, “who is outraged that this judge is basically ‘giving illegal aliens guns.’”
That view, shared by many, comes after record-breaking numbers of illegal aliens are setting foot on U.S. soil during the Biden administration. Some of those who have entered the U.S. are violent gang members, and others are suspected foreign agents from China, and others who have crossed into the U.S. from Mexico are listed on the terror watch list.
So some are warning that Judge Coleman's ruling means gang members, terrorists, and foreign agents can now legally possess a firearm.
