New York judge says 2nd Amendment 'doesn't exist in this courtroom' in ghost gun case

A defense attorney claims that the New York judge overseeing the prosecution of a man charged with manufacturing homemade firearms, known as "ghost guns," barred any arguments invoking the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Vinoo Varghese, the lawyer representing Dexter Taylor, said Judge Abena Darkeh explicitly told the defense, "Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn't exist here. So you can't argue Second Amendment. This is New York," the National Pulse reports.

Judge Darkeh, who has been criticized as a Bill de Blasio "DEI hire" who also serves as vice president of the Association of Ghanaian Lawyers of America, has been criticized by online commentators who have described her as a "diversity, equity and inclusion hire." She is accused of acting as "the most aggressive prosecutor in the room" and limiting the scope of Taylor's defense.

Taylor, a 52-year-old Black conservative who has discussed gunsmithing as a hobby on YouTube under the name "Carbon Mike," faces a potential sentence of 10 to 18 years in prison at his sentencing scheduled for May 18. Prosecutors have described him as having "acquired a massive arsenal of homemade ghost guns," while Taylor maintains he was merely assembling legal gun parts as a hobby and did not sell or distribute any firearms.

The defense argues that federal law allows unlicensed civilians to manufacture firearms for personal use only, under the Gun Control Act of 1968. They contend Taylor, who says he has a "squeaky-clean criminal record," did not even fire the guns he assembled.

The case has drawn comparisons to advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who previously boasted about owning an unlicensed firearm before police confiscated it earlier this month. There is no evidence Ms. Carroll was arrested or charged with a crime.