Kenneth E. Flick v. Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General

In 1987, Ken Flick was convicted of criminal copyright violation and smuggling for importing counterfeit cassette tapes. Flick served a four-and-a-half month sentence in a halfway house, successfully completed community service and probation, and made restitution to the Recording Industry Association of America. Flick has no other criminal record. A notable inventor, Flick is a peaceful, law-abiding citizen active in philanthropic, religious and civic affairs. Yet on account of his counterfeit cassette tape convictions, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) permanently bars Flick’s possession of firearms. The Third, Seventh, and D.C. Circuits hold that individuals convicted of felonies may challenge the application of firearm dispossession laws under the Second Amendment, although the basis for such challenges remains unsettled. The First, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits have expressed openness to such challenges, while the Fourth, Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits bar them. The question presented is: Whether the Second Amendment secures Ken Flick’s right to keep and bear arms, notwithstanding his convictions for importing and selling counterfeit cassette tapes thirty-three years ago.