A federal appeals court in Philadelphia has overwhelmingly ruled that a man convicted of a non-violent crime cannot be stripped of his Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.
In an 11-4 ruling (pdf) delivered on Tuesday, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Bryan Range, a Pennsylvania man who was banned from possessing a gun because of lying on a government form to get more food stamps to feed his family 28 years ago.
Range was convicted to one count of making a false statement to obtain food stamps in 1995, a time he and his wife struggled to raise three young children on $300 per week, according to court fillings. He has since completed a three-year probation, made a $2,500 restitution for his crime, and committed no crime other than minor traffic offenses and fishing without a license….