Appeals Court Denies Rehearing Over Felon Gun Possession Ban

The Eighth Circuit declined to rehear en banc a dispute over the constitutionality of the federal ban on felon gun possession, with four judges dissenting from the denial.

Dissenting from the majority of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Judge David R. Stras said the opinion in United States v. Jackson created “a group of second-class citizens: felons who, for the rest of their lives, cannot touch a firearm, no matter the crime they committed or how long ago it happened” because it cut off as-applied challenges to the possession ban.

Stras also said the panel decision ...