Monte Barry v. United States

Section 922(g)(1) of Title 18 of the United States Code makes it a crime for a person convicted of a felony to possess a firearm at any time thereafter. Petitioner challenged the statute’s constitutionality on the ground that lifetime disarmament based on his legal status as a “felon” unlawfully abridges the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The court of appeals rejected his challenge without resolving the constitutionality of the status offense. It relied instead on the view that the Second Amendment affords no protection to persons, like petitioner, who were on parole at the time of allegedly possessing a gun. The questions presented are:

1. Whether courts should analyze as-applied Second Amendment challenges to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) by examining whether historical tradition supports permanently disarming someone for the predicate offense(s) underlying the defendant’s conviction.

2. Whether § 922(g)(1), on its face, unconstitutionally abridges the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.