Fifth Circuit to Reconsider Constitutional Basis of Federal Felon Gun Ban in Landmark Case

A New Orleans case involving a convicted drug trafficker has triggered a significant constitutional showdown over Congress’s power to criminalize firearm possession by felons. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals voted Monday to reconsider United States v. Squire, potentially testing Justice Clarence Thomas’s argument that federal lawmakers exceeded their authority under the Commerce Clause when they enacted the relevant statute.

Curtis Squire was charged after authorities discovered a handgun in his home during a search warrant execution. Though his initial appeal raised Second Amendment concerns, the case has expanded into a fundamental question about whether Congress possessed constitutional grounds to prohibit such firearm possession in the first place.

Thomas’s recent concurrence in United States v. Hemani prompted the appellate shift. He argued the Commerce Clause permits Congress only to “regulate the buying and selling of goods and services trafficked across state lines,” not activities like individual gun possession divorced from commercial enterprise. The justification that firearms once crossed state lines before reaching a defendant’s hands, Thomas wrote, would unconstitutionally transform limited congressional commerce authority into sweeping police power.

The full court’s decision sharply divided judges. Dissenting Judge Stephen Higginson warned the case now threatens decades of settled Commerce Clause doctrine and could jeopardize federal prohibitions on child pornography, explosives, and biological weapons. A ruling striking down Section 922(g) would mark a severe contraction of federal regulatory authority, he cautioned.

Squire’s criminal history includes convictions for drug trafficking, firearm offenses, burglary, obstruction of justice, and motor vehicle theft. A three-judge panel had previously rejected his Second Amendment challenge in June, holding that Congress could constitutionally disarm individuals convicted of dangerous crimes.