Washington Post article covers the lawsuit against the ban on handguns and handgun ammo in the Norther Mariana Islands, a U.S. sovereign territory. One of the points in the Judge’s order that struck down the current law as a violation of constitutional rights is you could not use personal protection as a reason for wanting a handgun, a position that many issuing Judges in NY also use.
D. The Second Amendment Prohibits the Commonwealth from Denying WIC Applications on the Basis of Self-Defense.
The Second Amendment guarantees the “individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.” Heller, 554 U.S. at 592, 628 (“the inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right”). In the Commonwealth, the WIC application includes a “strong[] recommend[ation]” not to use “family protection” as the reason for applying for the permit. (WIC Application.) “Family protection” falls within the ambit of the Second Amendment’s “core lawful purpose of self-defense,” and cannot form a lawful basis for denying a WIC. Heller,554 U.S. at 630. To the extent that the Commonwealth prohibits access to firearms for lawful self-defense purposes, the prohibition is unconstitutional, and will therefore be enjoined.
We already tried to get the “proper cause” removed in NY but the anti-gun 2nd Circuit said basically that NY has had the Sullivan act for 100 years and if SCOTUS wanted to overturn it they could but SCOTUS did not take the case. At this point, however, Judges should start taking “personal protection” as a reason to issue pistol permits.
Congratulations and a big thanks to Gray Peterson for his work and support in this lawsuit.