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November 16, 2022

Another district court finds § 922(n), which criminalizes a person under indictment from receiving a firearm, to be unconstitutional

In this post from a couple of months ago, I noted the notable 25-page ruling in US v. Quiroz, No. PE:22-CR-00104-DC (W.D. Tex. Sept. 19, 2022) (available here), in which a federal district court in Texas decided that Bruen renders § 922(n) unconstitutional.  As of earlier this week, another federal district court, this one in Oklahoma, formally agreed.  Here is the start and conclusion of the 12-page opinion in US v. Stambaugh, No. CR-22-00218-PRW-2 (W.D. Ok. Nov. 14, 2022) (available here):

Before the Court is Defendant Stolynn Shane Stambaugh’s Motion to Dismiss Count 3 of the Indictment as Unconstitutional (Dkt. 31) and the United States’ Response in Opposition (Dkt. 38). Stambaugh seeks to dismiss Count 3 — Receipt of a Firearm by a Person Under Indictment, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(n) — on grounds that § 922(n), as applied to him, violates the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The motion has been briefed and heard. For the reasons explained below, the Court GRANTS Stambaugh’s motion (Dkt. 31)....

A historical analogue to support constitutional applications of § 922(n) might well exist, but the United States hasn’t pointed to it.  And because it is the United States’ burden to demonstrate that laws like § 922(n) are “part of the historical tradition that delimits the outer bounds of the right to keep and bear arms,” that failure is fatal.  While the United States needed not find a “historical twin,” surety laws and § 922(n) are simply not “analogous enough to pass constitutional muster,” particularly not in a case like this, where there is nothing in the record to support the United States’ contention that Stambaugh is categorically a “dangerous person” merely because he was indicted for larceny. Accordingly, the Court finds that § 922(n) is unconstitutional as applied to Stambaugh and therefore GRANTS his motion to dismiss Count 3 of the Indictment.

Some prior recent related posts:

November 16, 2022 at 01:09 PM | Permalink

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