The U.S. Third District Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government is limited when stripping an individual’s gun rights in relation to misdemeanor cases.
The case focused on two Pennsylvania men who were convicted of misdemeanors in the 1990s. Due to their convictions, they were subsequently barred from owning firearms, despite the fact neither been sentenced to jail time.
Via the Washington Free Beacon:
The U.S. Third District Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in the combined cases of Binderup v. the U.S. Attorney General and Suarez v. the U.S. Attorney General that it is unconstitutional to permanently bar the plaintiffs from owning firearms since they were convicted of relatively minor offenses and the government failed to prove they represent a hightened risk to society.
“Where the Second Amendment’s guarantees apply, as they do for Binderup and Suarez, ‘certain policy choices’ are ‘necessarily’ taken ‘off the table.’ Forever prohibiting them from possessing any firearm is one of those policy choices,” the court said in its ruling.
Read more here.
