Court Rules Government Can’t Strip Second Amendment Rights From Those Convicted of Minor, Nonviolent Offenses

Daily Signal:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held this week in Range v. Garland that the government cannot disarm people convicted of minor, nonviolent offenses. In doing so, it handed down perhaps the most significant Second Amendment victory since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last year, where it held that Americans have a constitutional right to carry handguns in public for self-defense.

The Third Circuit’s decision in Range is noteworthy for several reasons and likely sets up one of the next major Second Amendment battles at the Supreme Court. So, what, exactly, was this case about, and what can we expect next?

In 1995, Bryan Range was struggling to financially provide for his wife and three young children with an annual income that placed the family of five well below the federal poverty line. He signed and submitted an application for food stamps that understated his income—a criminal misdemeanor in Pennsylvania, where he lived.

He accepted full responsibility for the misrepresentation, pled guilty to a single count of making a false statement to obtain food stamps, paid almost $3000 in restitution and fines, and completed his sentence of three years probation without incident. By all accounts, this was Range’s only significant interaction with the criminal justice system, and he has been an upstanding citizen for nearly three decades.

Nevertheless, because Range was convicted of a misdemeanor that, at least in Pennsylvania, carried a possible sentence of more than two years imprisonment, federal law prohibits Range from purchasing or possessing firearms until Pennsylvania restores his Second Amendment rights. MORE HERE