Lawsuit Filed Against Gun Ban in Northern Mariana Islands

Gun Watch ^ | 7 September, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

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With the 9th Circuit ruling in Peruta, Guam, Hawaii, and the Northern Mariana Islands can no longer sustain heavy restrictions on the ownership and carry of handguns.   Guam has already reformed its law.  Hawaii has a ruling against it and is waiting to see what  happens with the Peruta decision.   Now the Northern Mariana Islands have had a lawsuit filed against them to repeal the total ban on the ownership and carry of handguns.   It is hard to see how such a ban can stand, given the decisions in Heller, McDonald, and Peruta.  

The lawsuit has been filed by two residents, Li-Rong Radich and David Radich.   The lawsuit is supported by the Second Amendment Foundation, The NRA Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund, and Hawaii Defense Foundation.  From saf.org:

“The Second Amendment does not just apply to the continental United States and Hawaii,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It also applies to territories under U.S. jurisdiction. The issue is a fundamental civil right, not only to possess a handgun, but also to use firearms for self-defense purposes, which is currently banned in the Northern Marianas.”

The territories administered by the United States should be included in any national reciprocity scheme for the carry of handguns.

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

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The Northern Mariana Islands come under the Ninth Circuit.

[T-Bone Texan]

It has been my limited experience that some of those South Pacific islands are relatively violent places, per capita.

The stereotype of the peaceful islander is not exactly accurate.

For a while American Samoa had the highest ingestion of Budweiser, per capita, on the planet.