First Cir. Weighs Federal Gun Ban on Noncitizens Illegally in US

The constitutionality of a federal statute prohibiting noncitizens who are in the country illegally from possessing firearms was under the microscope during an appeals court oral argument on Thursday, in light of a recent US Supreme Court ruling.

An attorney for the Department of Justice—who pointed to 17th century laws banning Native Americans and Loyalists from possessing firearms as support for the federal law being challenged under the Second Amendment—was pressed by Judge David J. Barron, of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, to explain why the centuries-old laws apply to this case.

“What indicates that ...