2aguy
Diamond Member
- Jul 19, 2014
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As the article asks....
I’m not aware of any other constitutionally-protected right that ends at the border of the state where you live, but when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms that’s unfortunately where things currently stand in the courts.
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Florida doesn’t have a gun registration law, so whoever told TMZ that Deville’s firearm was registered in that state is incorrect, though it sounds like Deville did lawfully possess the firearm, at least while she was in her home state. Because she brought the gun with her to New Jersey, however Deville is now facing the potential of three to five years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.
I’d love to see Deville and her attorneys mount a Second Amendment-related challenge to the charges, but honestly I’d be surprised if this case makes it to trial. Deville is a pretty sympathetic defendant given her previous run-in with a violent stalker and prosecutors may not want to make her the poster child for the state’s draconian gun control laws, so a plea deal (or at least an offer) is probably forthcoming.
Even if Deville manages to avoid a conviction and a potential prison sentence, the underlying issue is still out there and unaddressed. If the Second Amendment isn’t a second-class right as the Supreme Court has said, then why is it the only right that stops at the borders of your home state? Sonya Deville didn’t lose her freedom of speech when she entered New Jersey. Her Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures didn’t vanish when she crossed the state line. So why should her right to keep and bear arms be negated because she left Florida and traveled to New Jersey?
I’m not aware of any other constitutionally-protected right that ends at the border of the state where you live, but when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms that’s unfortunately where things currently stand in the courts.
--------------
Florida doesn’t have a gun registration law, so whoever told TMZ that Deville’s firearm was registered in that state is incorrect, though it sounds like Deville did lawfully possess the firearm, at least while she was in her home state. Because she brought the gun with her to New Jersey, however Deville is now facing the potential of three to five years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.
I’d love to see Deville and her attorneys mount a Second Amendment-related challenge to the charges, but honestly I’d be surprised if this case makes it to trial. Deville is a pretty sympathetic defendant given her previous run-in with a violent stalker and prosecutors may not want to make her the poster child for the state’s draconian gun control laws, so a plea deal (or at least an offer) is probably forthcoming.
Even if Deville manages to avoid a conviction and a potential prison sentence, the underlying issue is still out there and unaddressed. If the Second Amendment isn’t a second-class right as the Supreme Court has said, then why is it the only right that stops at the borders of your home state? Sonya Deville didn’t lose her freedom of speech when she entered New Jersey. Her Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures didn’t vanish when she crossed the state line. So why should her right to keep and bear arms be negated because she left Florida and traveled to New Jersey?
New Jersey gun laws snare WWE star Sonya Deville
bearingarms.com