Felon Disarmament Law Compared to Bans for Catholics at Argument

A Maine resident’s challenge to a federal post-conviction disarmament law saw resistance from a federal appeals panel Thursday that probed how the broad ban on gun possession for felons differs from other historical limits on firearm ownership.

The appeal before the First Circuit invoked recent US Supreme Court rulings limiting gun laws to claim the ban on gun possession for felons who serve more than one year in prison is an unconstitutional limit on the Second Amendment that’s untethered from a dangerousness finding.

Six other circuits have upheld the law’s categorical gun ban for felons, while two have suggested a ...