Many Americans don’t think twice about the idea that felons are barred from legally owning firearms. After all, they’re felons, right? They committed some kind of horrible crime to be in that situation, right?
Right?
Well, maybe not as bad as you might think.
Have you ever looked into all of the types of crimes that can result in a felony conviction? A surprising number of felonies have nothing to do with violence or with physically injuring anyone in any way, not even accidentally.
A guy in Mississippi found himself in exactly this kind of situation. He didn’t physically harm anyone. He didn’t physically threaten anyone.
In fact, he didn’t steal anything or do one of the things that most people think about when they think of a “crime,” especially a felony. Bill Pan gives us the details:
A federal appeals court has overturned the gun conviction of a Mississippi man who failed to pay child support, ruling that such an offense does not justify permanently stripping him of his Second Amendment rights.
In a 2–1 decision issued Dec. 17, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals found that once the man became current on his child support obligations, there was no basis for continuing to bar him from possessing firearms.
“There’s no historical justification to disarm him at that moment—never mind for the rest of his life,” Judge James Ho wrote for the majority opinion. He was joined by Judge Cory Wilson.
This court decision makes perfect sense to me. Even if you’re someone who thinks that felony convictions, in general, do justify keeping most felons from ever having firearms, this one seems pretty clear.
After all, child support isn’t armed robbery, assault, or murder. It’s not a violent crime.
And in many cases, it’s not even an intentional crime in that a parent may fall on economic hard times due to job loss or other challenges which prevents them from temporarily paying child support.
This guy repaid his child support, though. He did what he was supposed to do, and it sounds like there isn’t a reason to keep him from legally owning firearms.
So, good job Fifth Circuit Court for doing your job and upholding the Constitution by letting him have his firearms again.
