SAYING that the ban on silencers, sound suppressors, or sound moderators are unconstitutional, U.S. Army veteran Paul Murphy sued Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anthony Iglecias Macaranas, in his official capacity, in federal court for violations of the 2nd and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
Murphy, filing pro se or representing himself, requested the District Court for the NMI for a declaratory judgment that the ban on suppressors is unconstitutional.
Likewise, Murphy requested the court to issue a permanent injunction enjoining DPS from enforcing the ban on silencers, sound suppressors, or sound moderators.
In his lawsuit, Murphy stated that on Aug. 9, 2023, former DPS Commissioner Clement R. Bermudes denied his request for firearm possession of a Maxim Defense POX-SD pistol chambered in 5.56 NATO with a built-in “soup can” suppressor.
On June 24, 2024, Bermudes’ successor, DPS Commissioner Macaranas, denied Murphy’s request for possession of a Banish 30 suppressor and a Ruger MKIV-SD Integral Suppressor 22 caliber pistol, the lawsuit stated.
Murphy based his complaint on 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for deprivation of civil rights under color of law, and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief in challenging the CNMI’s Weapons Control Act and the CNMI’s SAFE Act.
Under 6 CMC § 2222(a), “It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly manufacture, import, sell, ship, deliver, possess, transfer, or receive a firearm silencer, except as authorized by law.”
Under CNMI P.L. 19-42 §208(a)(2), “No person shall possess: A silencer, sound suppressor or sound moderator.”
Murphy said pursuant to the Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in political union with the United States of America, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution and the 2nd Amendment are applicable to the CNMI.
Citing a previous ruling, he said, “The court held that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. … When the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct, and to justify a firearm regulation the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Murphy said he has been denied the right to purchase, own, and/or possess a pistol, silencer, sound suppressor, or sound moderator.
According to Murphy, “in previous litigation this court found that provisions which banned these instruments to include a flash suppressor were unconstitutional.”
“With over three million silencers, suppressors, and sound moderators owned by Americans this is in common use for lawful purposes,” he said.
In 2016, Murphy won his lawsuit against DPS, which he sued to stop the enforcement of the Commonwealth Weapons Act and the Special Act for Firearms and Enforcement or SAFE.
In 2020, Murphy filed another complaint against DPS for enforcing gun law provisions found unconstitutional.
He said the challenged provisions carry felony criminal penalties for violations, including fines of up to $25,000 and incarceration of up to 10 years in prison.
