Starting January 1, 2020, change is coming to the island in a very good way. This is very personal to me since I have family on the island and have looked at moving to Puerto Rico in the past. But the gun laws just kept turning me away. Now, this is no longer the case.

So how did this all come about? In 2015, the Second Amendment Foundation filed a challenge to Puerto Rico’s old laws with the help of the Ladies of the Second Amendment.

With over 800 plaintiffs, the lower court ruled that several provisions of the old laws were unconstitutional. The ruling was overturned after the state government appealed. The Puerto Rico Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving the appellate court’s ruling in place. But during that period between the lower court’s ruling and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico refusing to hear after it was appealed, Puerto Rico had a year of Constitutional Carry.

The people of Puerto Rico tasted the sweet savory flavor of freedom and they liked it. After two horrific hurricanes, Puerto Ricans under the old system applied en mass for firearm ownership permits. There was an estimated 60% to 70% increase in applications. But it was burdensome and costly.

So the people then decided to focus on legislative branch to push reform. This bill that just became law has been in the works since 2018. It was introduced by Sen. Nelson Cruz Santiago. Gov. Ricardo Rosselló opposed the bill. His ousting from office is what helped lead to this happening. The current Governor, Wanda Vázquez Garced supported the bill when she was the Secretary of Justice and when she became Governor. She championed women being able to defend themselves. She and Gov. Rosselló did not see eye to eye when it came to gun rights.

Vázquez Garced was initially expected to become governor of Puerto Rico after the resignation of Gov. Rosselló on August 2, 2019. She was met with opposition, including Gov. Rosselló, who announced that he was appointing Pedro Pierluisi as the new Secretary of State; the Secretary of State supersedes the Secretary of Justice in the order of succession according to the Territoial Constitution of Puerto Rico.

On August 1, however, the Puerto Rican Senate blocked Pierluisi from being confirmed as Secretary of State in time for Rosselló’s resignation on August 2. Upon Rossello’s resignation, Pierluisi succeeded to the governorship in a de facto manner instead of Vázquez. However, he was not confirmed by the Senate, calling into question the validity of his governorship.

On August 7, 2019, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ruled that Pierluisi was sworn in on unconstitutional grounds and removed him from office, effective at 5 p.m. AST. At that time, Vázquez Garced was sworn in as Governor.

Upon becoming Governor, Vázquez Garced stated she wanted to recover Hurricane Maria relief funds and review all government contracts to make sure they are being managed correctly and free of corruption. Especially since the Mayor of San Juan is under investigation. She said she wants to work with President Donald Trump to help the island of Puerto Rico and its 3.2 million citizens. Part of that was repealing the oppressive gun laws and supporting Sen. Nelson Cruz Santiago’s pro gun legislation.

Senate Bill 1050 was passed by the Legisaltive Assembly and signed into law as Act No. 168

As a native Spanish Speaker, I’ve translated all the good parts.

Puerto Rico is now a “Shall Issue” Territory of the United States. The original system in Puerto Rico was a two tiered system where a person had to pay over $1,000 for a ownership permit and then do the same process for a carry permit. It was “May Issue” and unless you were politically connected. You weren’t getting one. That’s all gone; now the system being instituted is a a merger. The Ownership Permit is the Carry Permit. No longer will residents have to jump through hoops.

The requirements other than the financial costs of $200, fingerprints, and photos is simple. If a resident is 21 years or older, has a clean criminal record with no Felony or Domestic Violence Convictions, has never been dishonorably discharged, has never been adjudicated mentally incompetent, and is not listed as a prohibited person by the Gun Control Act of 1968. The Territory of Puerto Rico must issue a permit within 45 days. What John didn’t catch in the bill. It is reduced to a 30 day time period after the first year. Basically the law gives the Territory an extra 15 days to process permits in the first year because they know there is going to be a mad rush to get carry permits.

Any Conceal Carry Permit issued in the US will be recognized by the Territorial Government. Doesn’t matter where it is from. Puerto Rico will honor it under Universal Reciprocity.

It is being reported that there is an Assault Weapons Ban. But reading the law, this is wrong. Puerto Rico is not instituting an Assault Weapons Ban. What they are doing is any resident that doesn’t posses the new Ownership/Carry Permit, possession of what is classified as an Assault Weapon is liable for a felony charge. This is no different than how Florida treats the possession of NFA items like a Machine Gun or Short Barreled Shotgun. They are illegal in Florida, unless they are possessed in accordance with Federal Law. Meaning if you have a NRA stamped item and it was legally acquired under Federal Law, it is legal in Florida. They’re using this has a tool to crack down on criminals that use firearms in the commission of crimes. Additionally, the collection of firearms is specifically listed as protected under the law and there are no limits to the number of firearms which may be collected.

The Airports will have the following posted in Spanish and English:

Another tidbit in the law is this. If a firearms owner purchases more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition in a year; or more than 10 firearms in a year; the police chief may investigate to ensure the ammunition and firearms were purchased for lawful reasons. I don’t agree with it but I see why they’re doing it. There is a major criminal problem on the island and they want to go after straw buyers.

To promote firearms safety among the soon to be mass of new shooters. Target shooting is to be encouraged by the government of Puerto Rico. The establishment of clubs, shooting organizations, and competitions are to be promoted by the government. Yup, you read that right. Puerto Rico is starting its own version of the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

There is an expedited process now for Domestic Violence Victims too. Because even Puerto Rican lawmakers understand that 30-45 days is too long. This was written into the law because of the woman killed in NJ waiting for a gun permit while she had a DV Injunction filed against her estranged boyfriend.

Puerto Rico will now appear to be NFA Friendly too. Article 2.16 says that Semiautomatic Assault Weapons, Machine Guns, and Suppressors cannot be made or imported into the Territory. But this prohibition shall not apply to:

Lastly, Puerto Rico used to be like New York or Illinois. If a person didn’t have a permit to possess. They couldn’t even legally touch a gun. Now Puerto Rico will allow residents without a permit to shoot at licensed ranges. Under the old system, if you didn’t have a permit you couldn’t touch a gun, period. This will be a great boom to the local gun shops and ranges in Puerto Rico since so many new shooters will not be legally able to seek instruction and try out guns before they’re forced to buy.

So you might ask how does this all work with Puerto Rico’s self defense laws? Is Puerto Rico like some of the States that have no duty to retreat, no castle doctrine, and no stand your ground? Well, to answer that question. Nope!

Puerto Rico has suddenly jumped up the list of places in America that have a pretty good set of gun laws. While some Americans might not fondly look at the requirement to apply for a permit. The new laws coming in with Act No. 168 is a huge positive step toward respecting Second Amendment rights in Puerto Rico. With the Island now being Shall Issue, it is a step in the right direction. Many Constititional Carry States started as No/May Issue States and after noticing that with Shall Issue. The public is law abiding and crime rates plummet.

The biggest importance though is the law specifically states its purpose is to bring Puerto Rico under the protections of the Second Amendment of the United States. This is critical since the United States Supreme Court stated in the early 1900s under the Insular Cases that the “Constitution does not follow the Flag“.  Puerto Rico has never had full Constitutional Protections like the Mainland has. So this is truly amazing in that regard.

As the bill said:

It appears that Puerto Rico said to hell with SCOTUS and their rulings in the Insular Cases. They want the Constitution just as everyone else does.

Holt Shit indeed.

No shit?

When was the last time a State moved so far in the right direction?

Hell of a lot better than NY, NJ, MA, MD, CA, DC, HI, and elsewhere.

Yup, the PR Level Courts ruled for a year that they were Constitutional Carry and no Gun Laws were Constitutional. The Government appealed to the Federal Appellate Level (not SCOTUS) and the PR Courts were overruled.

That was a Second Amendment Foundation case back in 2015-2016.

I know right?!?!

This is fucking huge.

Will President Trump congratulate Puerto Rico for passing pro 2nd Amendment gun laws like he did when Florida passed Anti 2nd Amendment gun laws?

I can read the direct bill in Spanish off the Legislative Assembly's website. The page says the bill has been signed by the Governor.

http://www.oslpr.org/legislatura/tl2017/tl_busca_avanzada.asp?rcs=P%20S1050

The link is not phone friendly.

You can't own non nurtured ARs and 30rd mags unless you were grandfathered in. Also you can't get a ton of handguns because of your roster.

PR now has better gun laws than a number of states.