Lifetime Gun Ban Faces Meltdown

Hand placing a handgun into a jeans pocket — Photo: Prixel Creative / Shutterstock

The Fifth Circuit will rehear two felon-in-possession cases that could gut a key federal gun ban and limit Washington’s reach over lawful gun owners.

Story Highlights

The Fifth Circuit granted full-court rehearing in Squire and Cordova, wiping out prior rulings and signaling high stakes for gun rights.
Judges will weigh the lifetime felon firearm ban under the Second Amendment and Congress’s power over interstate commerce.
The court’s orders set up a test of history-and-tradition after the Supreme Court’s Bruen standard.
A ruling could rein in federal overreach and narrow lifetime bans that sweep in nonviolent offenders.

Fifth Circuit Hits Reset On Two Felon Gun Ban Cases

On July 20, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted rehearing en banc in United States v. Squire, vacating a June 2 panel opinion and setting fresh briefing and argument before all active judges. On September 14, the court also granted en banc rehearing in United States v. Cordova, a challenge to the same federal felon-in-possession law, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). These moves erase earlier rulings and mark the disputes as major constitutional fights.

In Squire, the en banc rehearing centers on whether Congress had power under the Commerce Clause to criminalize possession tied to firearms that once crossed state lines. The prior panel ruling that upheld the law is no longer in effect, and the full court will take a fresh look. In Cordova, the case places the Second Amendment’s text and the nation’s historical tradition squarely at issue under the Supreme Court’s Bruen test.

What The Court Will Decide And Why It Matters

Judges will assess two core questions. First, does a lifetime gun ban for anyone labeled a felon fit the Second Amendment’s text and America’s historical tradition of firearm regulation after Bruen? Second, does Congress have constitutional power to reach local gun possession based only on a past trip in interstate commerce? The court’s orders describe these as proper issues for en banc review, not matters that lower panels could resolve as routine.

The answers could reshape federal power and restore rights to people with old, nonviolent convictions who pose no present danger. Many Americans know someone boxed out of self-defense for life because of a decades-old mistake. A narrower reading could still allow disarming those who are dangerous, while ending blanket bans that treat nonviolent offenders like threats forever. The en banc grants show the court takes these lines seriously.

Commerce Clause Showdown And Limits On Federal Reach

Squire tees up the question that many courts dodge: can Congress criminalize simple possession in a home because a firearm once moved in interstate commerce? The full court will test the government’s theory that this “jurisdictional hook” is enough, even when the conduct is intrastate and noncommercial. The July 20 order vacating the panel opinion removes any doubt that the Fifth Circuit wants full briefing on this reach of federal power.

A ruling that trims that reach would push police power back to states, where voters have more control. That outcome would check Washington’s habit of stretching the Commerce Clause to cover almost everything in American life. It would also align with a plain reading of the Constitution and respect for federalism. Even supporters of some gun limits should welcome clear limits that stop one-size-fits-all mandates from the capital.

Second Amendment Test Under Bruen’s History Standard

Cordova raises the text-and-history test the Supreme Court adopted in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. Under that approach, the government must show a tradition of analogous firearm regulation to justify modern limits. The Reason report notes the court granted Cordova en banc on a Second Amendment challenge to the lifetime felon ban, putting that history front and center. Duke’s firearms law analysis confirms Squire’s en banc review focuses on the Commerce Clause, while Cordova targets the Second Amendment question.

The Fifth Circuit is taking a case en banc that upheld a conviction under the felon gun ban for someone who did not serve any time in prison for the underlying offense.

Judge Oldham concurred in the panel opinion while saying the circuit's 922(g)(1) precedent "was wrong on the… pic.twitter.com/jrT8vLZBla

— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) September 14, 2026

Supporters of the ban cite general ideas about “dangerousness.” But broad labels are not the same as a clear and consistent historical tradition. The Fifth Circuit will have to decide whether permanent, status-based disarmament for all felonies fits the history, or whether the Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms for those who are peaceable today. That answer could protect families, secure self-defense, and stop bureaucrats from turning old mistakes into lifelong disabilities.