Pennsylvania has wrangled with the issue of preemption laws and some jurisdictions ignore the law. The Montgomery County Sheriff has been called to the carpet over unconstitutional practices concerning permitting.
Sheriff Sean Kilkenny requires that license to carry applicants who are naturalized citizens produce a copy of their papers — certificate of naturalization. The practice of requiring this is described as “unlawful and discriminatory” by attorney Joshua G. Prince. Prince penned a letter on behalf of Firearms Owners Against Crime – Institute for Legislative, Legal and Educational Action and one its members to Sheriff Kilkenny admonishing him over the practice.
Prince said in the letter to Kilkenny that the “practice is both in excess of the authority granted to you by the Uniform Firearms Act and unconstitutionally discriminatory.” Prince and those he represents further demand the sheriff’s office “immediately cease requiring United States citizens to provide proof of their naturalization prior to issuance or renewal of the LTCF.”
Copies of Prince’s letter were sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Pennsylvania Attorney General David W. Sunday.
The letter highlights the appropriate section of law that the sheriff is allegedly violating:
If you review the form promulgated by the Pennsylvania State Police, you will find that Question 27 asks whether the applicant is a United States citizen. If the applicant answers “yes,” they are obligated to provide no additional information or documentation affirmatively demonstrating their citizenship; not a birth certificate, not a social security card, not a certificate of naturalization – nothing. Your requirement that citizen applicants born outside the United States provide proof of naturalization violates § 6109(c) and is in excess of your authority.
Further, by subjecting foreign-born citizens to administrative hurdles that you do not require of domestic-born citizens, you and your office are discriminating on the basis of national origin in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution; …
Prince’s letter goes further into detail on how it’s “morally reprehensible” to treat naturalized citizens differently than natural born citizens. Considering the cumbersome process to become a U.S. citizen legally, such barriers to be able to exercise a fundamental human right — when fully patriated as a citizen — highlights the unconstitutional nature of Sheriff Kilkenny’s policy.
“If you do not immediately end this unconstitutional practice, FOAC-ILLEA will be forced to take legal action to compel its end,” Prince warned. “Please advise within five (5) days as to whether this practice has been terminated, or whether legal action needs to be taken to protect FOAC-ILLEA’s member. As this is not the first time your office has discriminated against applicants for LTCFs, I am copying Pennsylvania Attorney General David Sunday and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi on this letter. It is my sincere hope that this issue can be resolved swiftly and amicably.”
Joshua G. Prince and his colleagues at Firearms Industry Consulting Group have been a wrecking ball to unconstitutional measures in the Keystone State. How exactly Sheriff Kilkenny will respond to Prince’s shots across his bow is not known. Considering Prince’s track record of successfully putting tyranny in its place, Kilkenny should simply acquiesce and follow Pennsylvania law as written.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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