Carlos Serrano-Restrepo, 46, who snuck into the U.S. in 2008, has settled in like a citizen.
He even claimed to be a citizen on a background check form when he purchased his latest batch of firearms.
That got him unwanted attention from law enforcement, who found 170 guns in his Ohio home, including a Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifle, and “tens of thousands” of rounds of ammunition (read story here).
Serrano-Restrepo claims his guns were for self-defense. Since you can shoot only one gun at a time, that doesn’t explain having 170 guns. Even in Vietnam, I never had more than 2 weapons, my trusty M-16* and a shotgun or machinegun (photo below; that’s not me in the picture, I took the photo).
(* The early version M-16s issued in Vietnam were prone to jamming no matter how diligently you maintained them, so it was prudent to have a backup weapon.)
Anyway, they arrested him, and his lawyer argued the federal law (here) banning illegal immigrants from having guns violated the Second Amendment. A reader commented, “As far as I’m concerned, illegals have ZERO rights under our Constitution until they go through the process of becoming American citizens.”
That’s NOT the law, and this declamation would earn him a bad grade on a civics test or law school exam. Everyone physically in the U.S. has the same rights, regardless of their status. That’s why 9/11 detainees were shipped to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo; if they were brought to the U.S. they would be entitled to trials in civilian courts with full due process.
Thus, Serrano-Restropo has the same Second Amendment rights as everyone else. But these rights aren’t absolute. Some gun regulations are allowed, and federal appeals courts have upheld the statutory prohibition of illegals possessing guns as a permissible regulation. If nothing else, they could get him for lying on the background check.
What now? They’ll probably deport him to his native Colombia. His asylum status and U.S. citizenship dreams are up in smoke. As a felon he won’t to return, and he’ll be lucky if he avoids prison time. All in all, it was a dumb thing to do.
