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Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
May 19, 2003, Monday
SECTION: Pg. 1
LENGTH: 678 words
HEADLINE: Convicted felons have no gun rights: U.S. appeals court
BYLINE: PATRICIA MANSON; Law Bulletin staff writer
BODY:
Even U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft concedes there are limits to a private individual's right to keep and bear arms, an appeals court has noted in upholding the constitutionality of a federal gun law.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments Friday that Congress overstepped its bounds when it outlawed the possession of firearms by convicted felons.
Citing cases that included U.S. v. Three Winchester 30-30 Caliber Lever Action Carbines, 504 F.2d 1288 (7th Cir. 1974), and U.S. v. Hemmings, 285 F.3d 587 (7th Cir. 2001), the court noted that it previously has found the felon-in-possession statute or a predecessor statute to be constitutional.
And quoting Gillespie v. City of Indianapolis, 185 F.3d 693 (7th Cir. 1999), the court said it has held that rights under the Second Amendment belong "not to the individual but to the people collectively, its reach extending so far as is necessary to protect their common interest in protection by a militia."
The 7th Circuit acknowledged that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as well as Ashcroft subscribe to "an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment."
This interpretation holds that the amendment protects the right of "individuals, including those not then actually a member of a militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms," the 7th Circuit said, quoting the 5th Circuit's opinion in U.S. v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203 (2001).
Likewise, the 7th Circuit said, Ashcroft in a recent letter to the executive director of the National Rifle Association said "the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms."
But it didn't seem that clear to the 7th Circuit.
"He says 'clearly,' though his view, as the need for such a lengthy discussion in Emerson reveals, is also pretty clearly not self-evident," Judge Terence T. Evans wrote for a three-member panel of the 7th Circuit.
The panel declined to get bogged down in a discussion of the comparative virtues of the "individual rights" and "collective rights" models of the Second Amendment.
"But even were we inclined to, there is no need for us to wade into that Second Amendment quagmire because, although it espouses an individual rights approach to the Second Amendment, the Emerson court agrees with our conclusion that rights under the amendment can be restricted," the panel said.
The panel noted that the 5th Circuit in that case specifically upheld the constitutionality of a prohibition on convicted felons -- as well as minors and people of unsound mind -- possessing firearms.
And Ashcroft acknowledged that the Second Amendment does not prevent Congress "from enacting laws restricting firearms ownership for compelling state interests, such as prohibiting firearms ownership by convicted felons," the panel said, quoting a footnote from the attorney general's letter.
Such a prohibition is contained in 18 U.S.C. sec922(g), according to the panel.
"At least for the moment, section 922(g) is safe with us and, in fact, is safe with the attorney general and the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit," the panel said.
The panel affirmed the conviction of Kenneth James Price, who was found guilty of offenses that included armed robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Price had put a ski mask over his face before entering a bank in Elgin on a summer day in 2001 and taking $ 8,300 from a teller at gunpoint.
Price was apprehended within 1,000 feet of the bank carrying a ski mask stuffed with the exact amount of cash taken in the robbery. He had a gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans.
Joining the opinion were Judges William J. Bauer and Daniel A. Manion. U.S. v. Kenneth James Price, No. 02-2569.
May 19, 2003, Monday
SECTION: Pg. 1
LENGTH: 678 words
HEADLINE: Convicted felons have no gun rights: U.S. appeals court
BYLINE: PATRICIA MANSON; Law Bulletin staff writer
BODY:
Even U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft concedes there are limits to a private individual's right to keep and bear arms, an appeals court has noted in upholding the constitutionality of a federal gun law.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments Friday that Congress overstepped its bounds when it outlawed the possession of firearms by convicted felons.
Citing cases that included U.S. v. Three Winchester 30-30 Caliber Lever Action Carbines, 504 F.2d 1288 (7th Cir. 1974), and U.S. v. Hemmings, 285 F.3d 587 (7th Cir. 2001), the court noted that it previously has found the felon-in-possession statute or a predecessor statute to be constitutional.
And quoting Gillespie v. City of Indianapolis, 185 F.3d 693 (7th Cir. 1999), the court said it has held that rights under the Second Amendment belong "not to the individual but to the people collectively, its reach extending so far as is necessary to protect their common interest in protection by a militia."
The 7th Circuit acknowledged that the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as well as Ashcroft subscribe to "an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment."
This interpretation holds that the amendment protects the right of "individuals, including those not then actually a member of a militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms," the 7th Circuit said, quoting the 5th Circuit's opinion in U.S. v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203 (2001).
Likewise, the 7th Circuit said, Ashcroft in a recent letter to the executive director of the National Rifle Association said "the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms."
But it didn't seem that clear to the 7th Circuit.
"He says 'clearly,' though his view, as the need for such a lengthy discussion in Emerson reveals, is also pretty clearly not self-evident," Judge Terence T. Evans wrote for a three-member panel of the 7th Circuit.
The panel declined to get bogged down in a discussion of the comparative virtues of the "individual rights" and "collective rights" models of the Second Amendment.
"But even were we inclined to, there is no need for us to wade into that Second Amendment quagmire because, although it espouses an individual rights approach to the Second Amendment, the Emerson court agrees with our conclusion that rights under the amendment can be restricted," the panel said.
The panel noted that the 5th Circuit in that case specifically upheld the constitutionality of a prohibition on convicted felons -- as well as minors and people of unsound mind -- possessing firearms.
And Ashcroft acknowledged that the Second Amendment does not prevent Congress "from enacting laws restricting firearms ownership for compelling state interests, such as prohibiting firearms ownership by convicted felons," the panel said, quoting a footnote from the attorney general's letter.
Such a prohibition is contained in 18 U.S.C. sec922(g), according to the panel.
"At least for the moment, section 922(g) is safe with us and, in fact, is safe with the attorney general and the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit," the panel said.
The panel affirmed the conviction of Kenneth James Price, who was found guilty of offenses that included armed robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Price had put a ski mask over his face before entering a bank in Elgin on a summer day in 2001 and taking $ 8,300 from a teller at gunpoint.
Price was apprehended within 1,000 feet of the bank carrying a ski mask stuffed with the exact amount of cash taken in the robbery. He had a gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans.
Joining the opinion were Judges William J. Bauer and Daniel A. Manion. U.S. v. Kenneth James Price, No. 02-2569.
