The state supreme court issued a batch of opinions last Friday, and while several of them are notable, the one that has received the most attention is Britt v. North Carolina. (You can see the News and Observer's story here, and a couple of commentators' views here and here.) Barney Britt pled guilty to PWISD methaqualone (Quaalude) in 1979. He served four months in prison and a couple of years on probation, and in 1987, in keeping with state law at that time, his civil rights were fully restored, including his right to possess firearms. Over the years, G.S. 14-415.1, North Carolina's felon-in-possession law, was strengthened, and by 2004, it prohibited anyone who had ever been convicted of any felony from possessing any firearm (handgun, long gun, etc.) anywhere (including in the home) for any purpose (including hunting and self-defense). Britt, who was now prohibited from possessing firearms, sued the state, arguing that the revised G.S. 14-415.1 was unconstitutional. He asserted, inter alia, that it violated the Ex Post Facto Clause's prohibition against retroactive increases in punishment. The state obtained summary judgment against him, and he appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, but last week, the supreme court reversed. The court did not find an ex post facto problem. Instead, it determined that G.S. 14-415.1, as applied, violated Britt's rights under Article I, section 30 of the North Carolina Constitution -- a provision that is textually identical to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court applied something akin [...]
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