Friday, March 29, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Saturday, April 2, 2016
Northern Mariana Judge Strikes Down Last Handgun Ban in USA
By News Release @ 3:29 PM :: 4098 Views :: Second Amendment

No More Handgun Bans

From NRA-ILA, FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2016

On Monday, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona of the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands stuck down the last handgun ban in the United States in the case of Radich v. Guerrero. Judge Manglona’s opinion held that the Islands’ bans on handgun possession, possession of any firearms for self-defense purposes, importation of handguns, and firearm possession by resident aliens violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.

It’s fitting that the facts leading to this case illustrate why Americans continue to overwhelmingly support the right of law-abiding people to possess handguns for self-defense. In 2013, married couple David and Li-Rong Radich sought firearm licenses for self-defense after Li-Rong was attacked in their home. After no action was taken on their applications, the Radiches filed their suit challenging the bans.

Judge Manglona began her opinion by examining the application of the U.S. Constitution to the Commonwealth of the Mariana Islands. She found that while some provisions of the Constitution do not directly apply to the Commonwealth, certain provisions, including the Second Amendment and section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, do apply via the founding Covenant that formed the Islands’ political union with the United States.

After finding that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments controlled, it was a simple matter of applying the Supreme Court’s precedents from District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago to the prohibitions in question. Following those precedents, Judge Manglona found no justification that could preserve the Commonwealth’s bans on handgun possession, possession of any firearms for self-defense purposes, importation of handguns, and firearm possession by resident aliens.

This decision shows how far gun rights supporters have come from only forty years ago when the leading opponents of the right to keep and bear arms laid out their plan to end handgun possession in the United States. As Nelson T. “Pete” Shields put it in a 1976 interview with The New Yorker, “[t]he first problem is to slow down the increasing number of handguns being produced and sold in this country. The second problem is to get handguns registered. And the final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition—except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors—totally illegal.” At the time, Shields was the chairman of the National Council to Control Handguns, which was renamed Handgun Control, Inc. in 1979 and is now called the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

These days, gun control supporters don’t like to talk about their goal of banning firearms commonly kept for self-defense unless its with an oblique reference, but steps one and two of the plan laid out by Shields are still very much alive in the modern gun-controller’s toolbox. Gun control groups continue to do whatever they can tomarginalize gun ownership, and firearm registration – whether directly or indirectly – through “universal” background checks, and other “common sense” reforms.

The Commonwealth could appeal this decision, but their likelihood of success is slim, at least for now, given Heller and McDonald. But, that record is now more in jeopardy than ever given the potential shift on Second Amendment cases with Antonin Scalia’s passing.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT