Federal Judge Rejects Illegal Immigrant’s Claim to Second Amendment Rights After Agents Seized 170 Firearms
A federal judge has denied a request by an illegal immigrant to have a gun charge dismissed after he argued he has Second Amendment rights despite being unlawfully in the United States.
Carlos Serrano-Restrepo, an illegal immigrant in Ohio, was indicted earlier this year for possessing a firearm while illegally in the country. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) began investigating him after discovering he had purchased at least 22 firearms, falsely claiming US citizenship on firearm purchase forms, according to a report by Fox News.
A search of his home revealed approximately 170 firearms, tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, and smoke or marine markers. Serrano-Restrepo claimed some of the weapons were for self-defense, and his lawyer argued that his constitutional right to bear arms should protect his possession of the firearms.
The lawyer subsequently submitted a motion to dismiss the charge, citing these arguments. However, a federal judge denied a motion to dismiss the charge, writing that “disarming unlawful immigrants like Mr. Serrano-Restrepo who have not sworn allegiance to the United States comports with the Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulations.”
“Mr. Serrano-Restrepo’s as-applied challenge lacks merit,” the judge said. “The swearing of an oath of allegiance occurs through the naturalization process, not through his asylum application or his years of living in the United States.”
Serrano-Restrepo, who has been in the country illegally since 2008, initially lived in Arizona before moving to Ohio in 2022. His trial is scheduled to begin in January.
