The felon-in-possession cases coming out of the federal circuits right now are worth paying attention to, even when the facts make the defendant easy to dismiss.

"His disarmament is consistent with the history and tradition of Founding-era laws."

The court's reasoning here is blunt: founding-era governments executed people for felonies, so stripping gun rights is the lesser punishment implied by the greater. Hard to argue with the logic when the guy was shooting at an Uber.

"The non-violent felon question remains genuinely unsettled and is being actively litigated in multiple circuits."

This is the thread that actually pulls. A first-time drug possession conviction, a bad check charge, certain regulatory violations — all felonies under federal law. The Bruen framework cuts both ways, and there are cases working through the system right now where the "dangerous offender" logic doesn't hold nearly as clean. The Ninth Circuit will eventually have to answer this, which means it lands in our backyard.

Anyone here know someone who had their rights restored after a felony — either through state petition or presidential pardon? Curious how that process actually played out and whether they ran into walls trying to purchase again.

Read the full article in The Handbook → | By Steve Duskett