On April 1, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Trump v. Barbara, concerning the meaning of the Citizenship Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment. As I discussed here when the Court granted cert, there is a significant collateral issue at stake besides whether a birth certificate reflects citizenship. That issue relates to whether a person may lawfully receive or possess firearms.
The Gun Control Act (GCA) makes it unlawful for "an alien" who "is illegally or unlawfully in the United States" or who (with certain exceptions) "has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa" to receive or possess a firearm. 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5). As elsewhere provided, "The term 'alien' means any person not a citizen or national of the United States." 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(3). The Fourteenth Amendment defines "citizens" as "persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." Is a person born here of illegal aliens or of temporary visitors on a nonimmigrant visa a non-citizen who does not have Second Amendment rights?
I filed an amicus curiae brief in the Barbara case on behalf of the Article III Project in support of the petitioners and reversal. Although none of the briefs of the parties or amici (including mine) discuss the nexus between the Citizenship Clause and the Second Amendment, that issue looms in the background of who are citizens and thus who may lawfully possess firearms.
