Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
The timing of a recent court ruling from the Commonwealth Court of Puerto Rico could not be better, and may well set in motion a significant ripple effect in other U.S. Island jurisdictions, namely Guam and Hawaii.
The Puerto Rican court recently handed down a ruling on a class action lawsuit that was brought by the Ladies of the Second Amendment, or LSA, with 850 individual plaintiffs. The court ruling, confirmed by the Second Amendment Foundation, or SAF, was a significant victory for gun rights advocates in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico, in many ways like Guam and Hawaii, requires all firearms to be registered with the government and all firearms owners to register and carry a firearms identification card. I believe that in Hawaii, individual registration is required for hand-guns and long guns and, if I am not mistaken, annually in the case of handgun registration.
According to one story this was a surprising victory for gun rights in Puerto Rico that would effectively “ eliminate the firearms registry and licensing requirements to purchase and carry in the Commonwealth, the Second Amendment Foundation has con-firmed.”
“According to Sandra Barreras with Ladies of the Second Amendment, the group that brought the lawsuit, “there is no regulation to purchase or carry (and) all purchases will be handled in accordance with federal firearms regulations.” LSA is affiliated with the SAF through the International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights.”
The class-action lawsuit challenged various articles in Puerto Rico’s gun law, which the court declared unconstitutional. Be-cause of the ruling, Barreras said, “Puerto Ricans may now carry openly or concealed without a permit, and they do not need to obtain a permit before purchasing a firearm.”
In a similar story reported on guns.com, “Puerto Rico has some of the strictest gun laws in the U.S. and impact over three million residents, who in the end are U.S. citizens.”
Puerto Rico, (similar to Guam) “requires those who want to legally own a firearm first obtain a weapons license or licencias de armas, which costs $125 and has to be renewed every five years. This permit allows the holder to possess a maximum of two fire-arms, which have to be registered with the police, for which they can only purchase ammo in the same calibers as their declared firearms.”
Resident of Puerto Rico are limited to purchasing only 50 rounds per calendar year per firearm.
“Those who want a concealed carry permit must already have a weapons license, become a member of a gun club recognized by the police, obtain an additional $25 target-shooting permit (permisos de tiro al blanco), which allows the possessor to purchase larger amounts of ammunition and file an application to appear before a judge to argue their case for a CCW. This typically requires using a lawyer to expedite the process and obtain additional training.”
“The process costs upward of $1,000 and the number of permits issued are so low as to classify Puerto Rico as a “No Issue” jurisdiction when compared to such notoriously strict “May Issue” handgun permit states as New Jersey and Hawaii.” (Guam recently passed shall issue legislation for concealed carry but re-mains onerous on the issuing of permits and firearms registration).
Even with all of this so-called gun control, Puerto Rico suffers from a crime rate that is seven times higher than that found in the rest of the U.S.
The news of this ruling was greeted with delight, “especially because in reaching its decision, the court cited the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases, and the recent ruling in Palmer v. District of Columbia. Both the McDonald and Palmer cases were won by SAF.”
“Cumbersome firearms regulations have never prevented criminals from getting their hands on guns,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “They have only inconvenienced law-abiding citizens, or deprived them outright from exercising their rights under the Second Amendment.”
Gottlieb said the lawsuit was brought in a Puerto Rican Com-monwealth court, rather than a federal court. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and thus is subject to federal court jurisdiction.
“This case turned out better than anyone had really anticipated,” he commented. “We’re very pleased to have played an advisory role in this case, and if there is a government appeal, we’ll definitely be there with whatever support we can provide to our good friends in Puerto Rico.”
For those readers who are not familiar, the Second Amendment Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many pro-grams designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
Guam guns owners need to keep a close eye on this effort in Puerto Rico to see how they can follow suit locally.
Lee P. Webber is a former president and publisher of the Pacific Daily News, and has been a resident of Guam since 1968.