Lincoln, NE, April 1, 2013 – The Nebraska Firearms Owners Association (NFOA), announced that today the NFOA and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging the State of Nebraska’s statutory prohibition on issuing concealed handgun permits to legal non-citizens for self defense.
The case seeks to overturn the State’s non-citizen concealed carry ban on constitutional grounds, specifically the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause. The plaintiff is Carlos Nino De Rivera Lajous, a Mexican citizen who legally resides in Nebraska. He has lived legally in Lincoln, Nebraska since 1990 and received his permanent resident visa (green card) in 1991.
“Mr. Lajous has worked as a machinist for an aviation company in Lincoln for fourteen years,” stated NFOA President Wesley Dickinson. “He has also earned three associate degrees from Central Community College in Hastings and he has family in the area.”
Defendants in the case are Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning and Nebraska State Patrol Superintendent David Sankey, in their respective official capacities.
“At issue here is long-settled law,” Dickinson continued. “The State of Nebraska cannot, under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, deny a legal Permanent Resident Alien his fundamental Second Amendment rights. This includes prohibiting Mr. Lajous, who can legally openly carry a handgun in the State of Nebraska, from applying for, passing the background checks, and obtaining a concealed handgun permit from the Nebraska State Patrol to carry a concealed handgun for his own personal protection.”
