Federal Ban on Felons Possessing Guns Upheld by Fifth Circuit

A federal law that prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms is constitutional both on its face and as applied to the defendant, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

Circuit precedent required finding 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) valid on its face. John Wayne Morgan Jr.'s as applied challenge also failed, because Section 922(g)(1) is sufficiently similar to “going armed” laws enforced at the founding of the US, Judge Don R. Willett said for the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

There is a circuit split over the constitutionality the law. The Eighth Circuit held that Section 922(g)(1) is constitutional with “no need for felony-by-felony litigation.” The Sixth Circuit ruled the statute can be enforced against someone on probation for driving under the influence, and the Tenth Circuit ruled it’s constitutional as applied to a nonviolent felon. But the Third Circuit ruled that the statute is unconstitutional when applied to someone convicted of welfare fraud.

Morgan was previously convicted under Louisiana law for using a firearm during a drive-by shooting in 2022. He was released from prison in 2023 and arrested a month later for being in a car with multiple guns. Morgan faced several charges but pleaded guilty only to violating Section 922(g)(1). The district court rejected his argument that the statute was unconstitutional and he reserved the right to appeal that ruling.

Applying the US Supreme Court’s analysis in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n Inc. v. Bruen for determining whether a firearm regulation is valid under the Second Amendment, Willett made clear that convicted felons are among “the people” protected by the amendment. He added that in United States v. Diaz, the court ruled that Section 922(g)(1) is facially constitutional.

Morgan’s as-applied challenge failed because the government showed that the US had a longstanding history of disarming individuals with a criminal history analogous to Morgan’s.

A conviction under Louisiana law for illegal use of weapon qualified as a predicate felony under Section 922(g)(1). That law was also sufficiently similar to going armed laws in place at the founding, Willett said. Those laws prohibited people from menacing others with firearms and disrupting the public order with conduct likely to lead to actual violence, and required showing more than carrying a gun in public, he said.

The going armed laws and Section 922(g)(1) imposed permanent firearms forfeiture for being convicted for a disqualifying offense involving the improper use of a firearm, Willett said. The historical record also demonstrated that legislatures have the power to disarm dangerous people, he said.

Louisiana’s illegal use law didn’t have to be a dead ringer for Section 922(g)(1) to pass Second Amendment muster. Like the going armed laws, Morgan was convicted for menacing people with a firearm and disrupting the public order, Willett said.

Judges Jacques L. Wiener Jr. and James C. Ho joined the opinion.

The case is United States v. Morgan, 5th Cir., No. 24-30561, 8/6/25.