Today, the National Rifle Association, along with the Second Amendment Foundation, Firearms Policy Coalition, and FPC Action Foundation, filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the federal lifetime prohibition on firearms possession by nonviolent felons.
The case, Vincent v. Bondi, was brought by Melynda Vincent, who was convicted of a felony in 2008 for submitting a fraudulent check to a grocery store in the amount of $498.12. As a result, she is forever prohibited from possessing a firearm under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
Since her conviction, Ms. Vincent has earned two graduate degrees, founded a nonprofit, and become an adjunct professor. She challenged the federal lifetime ban as a violation of her Second Amendment rights, but the Tenth Circuit ruled that no one can challenge the federal law, regardless of what the felony was for or how long ago it occurred. Ms. Vincent then petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case, and we filed a brief urging the Court to grant the petition.
Our brief provides a detailed historical analysis demonstrating that peaceable citizens—including nonviolent felons—were never disarmed throughout American history. From the earliest colonial days through the nineteenth century, the government disarmed only dangerous persons. Therefore, the government cannot prove that § 922(g)(1) is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, as the Supreme Court requires, and the law is unconstitutional.
Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit www.nraila.org/litigation to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.
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