04 Apr 2012
Firearm ban for immigrants invalid
"An application for a firearm license or permit cannot be denied solely on the basis of the applicant’s status as a lawful permanent resident alien, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled. “Any classification based on the assumption that lawful permanent residents are categorically dangerous and that all American citizens by contrast are trustworthy lacks even a reasonable basis,” Judge Douglas P. Woodlock concluded. “The possibility that some resident aliens are unsuited to possess a handgun does not justify a wholesale ban,” he continued. “I conclude the Massachusetts firearms regulatory regime as applied to the individual plaintiffs contravenes the Second Amendment.” - Mass. Lawyers Weekly, Apr. 3, 2012.