Published on: Tuesday, June 6, 2023

Update from previous coverage where Pennsylvania man is convicted in 1995 of fraudulently obtaining food stamps to feed his family, for which he serves probation. Decades later, he discovers that although Pennsylvania considers the crime a misdemeanor, federal law considers it a felony for which he is categorically barred from owning a hunting rifle. He brings a Second Amendment challenge. 3-judge Third Circuit panel: conviction was properly used to deny his right to buy a hunting rifle. En banc Third Circuit (with multiple concurrences and dissents): Nope. He wins! Looking to text and history, there's no longstanding tradition of disarming people for this sort of noncapital offense.

The case is Range v. Attorney Gen. of the U.S., 21-2835 (3d Cir. June 6, 2023).