Every responsible gun owner supports keeping firearms away from violent criminals, but what about those guilty of non-violent offenses who find themselves forever stripped of Second Amendment rights?
Last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a decisive blow to this injustice by ruling in United States v. Cockerham. At least temporarily, sanity was restored in the debate over how much the Bill of Rights protects the right to keep and bear arms.
Defendant received a lifetime gun ban despite only being sentenced to probation
Edward Cockerham was convicted in Mississippi for failing to pay child support. The crime carried a potential five-year prison term upon conviction, but he only received probation.
However, a controversial federal statute bars anyone convicted of a crime carrying a possible sentence of more than one year behind bars from possessing a firearm. Again, perfectly reasonable for violent criminals but not so much for others.
Cockerham paid what he owed and completed his probationary period, but that was not the end of his troubles. He was indicted for firearm possession based on his earlier conviction and decided to challenge his fate in court.
There is no history or tradition in the US of disarming non-violent offenders
The district court did not agree with his argument that a lifetime firearm ban violated the Second Amendment, the Commerce Clause, and Equal Protection Clause. It was a different outcome on appeal.
The Fifth Circuit weighed Cockerham’s claims considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling. Judges determined that the Second Amendment guarantees the plaintiff’s right to possess a weapon.
Government attorneys equated the failure to pay child support as theft and then used historical examples of disarmament of those convicted of such offenses. As arguments were presented, the distinction between theft and debt was made, and the government was forced to concede that debtors in the Founding Era were released from custody upon payment, but thieves remained in custody.
Cockerham’s completion of paying his child support debt should have released him from the firearm restriction, as the nation’s history and traditions do not support further restrictions.
As of now, his conviction has been overturned, and the case has been remanded to the lower courts.
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