A five-time convicted felon, Glen Prince, who faced a mandatory 15-year prison sentence for his recent weapons offense in Chicago, was unexpectedly released as a federal judge deemed it unconstitutional to prohibit criminals from owning guns. Despite Prince's extensive criminal record, which included three armed robberies and aggravated battery of a police officer, he was arrested again for robbing three men on a Chicago train in September 2021, carrying cocaine, a stolen credit card, several bullets, and a fully loaded Smith & Wesson – a violation of federal law banning felons from gun ownership.
Federal Judge Robert Gettleman dismissed Prince's case this month, citing a Supreme Court decision from the previous year that deemed laws barring felons from owning guns a violation of Second Amendment rights. Although acknowledging the societal threat posed by armed individuals, Gettleman argued that prosecutors failed to prove felons should be excluded from the Second Amendment's protection.
Gettleman's decision, asserting that the federal ban on felons owning guns posed a greater threat to liberty than historical precedents, has sparked controversy. Prince was released following the ruling but rearrested on separate charges of being an armed habitual criminal. He is currently held without bond in Cook County Jail, as federal prosecutors appeal the judge's decision.
Prince's case is one of over 600 similar ones filed by the US Attorney's Office in the past five years, with at least 50 people charged in 2023 alone for violating the federal ban on felons possessing firearms. Critics argue that overturning the ban could contribute to an increase in crime, especially in a city like Chicago, where violent crime has risen by over 20% from the previous year, marked by a doubling of motor vehicle thefts and a 25% increase in robberies.
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