Could Donald Trump, as felon dispossessed of guns, (further) impact Second Amendment jurisprudence?
I believe Donald Trump does not formally become a convicted felon until judgment is entered following his sentencing next month. But it is not too early to think about some of the collateral consequences of his conviction. Today I got to thinking about the fact that Trump, as a convicted felon, needs to soon become dispossessed of any firearms due to federal law (and also state laws) making it a serious crime for a felon to possess a gun. This HuffPost piece, headlined “Donald Trump, Convicted Felon, Just Lost His Gun Rights,” discusses these issues, and it notes that Trump has said that he owns and carries guns:
Trump rarely discusses his personal use of firearms. But in a 2012 interview, he told The Washington Times that he held a concealed carry license in New York and owned two handguns — a .45-caliber H&K and a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson. Trump told French Magazine Valeurs Actuelles four years later, “I always carry a weapon on me.”
Not discussed by HuffPost piece is the fact that two federal circuit courts and some federal district courts have decided that the federal felon-in-possession criminal law, 18 USC § 922(g)(1), is unconstitutional as applied to non-violent offenders after the Supreme Court’s landmark Second Amendment Bruen ruling. And, of course, the Supreme Court is actively considering the reach and application of its Bruen ruling in the Rahimi cases concerning another § 922(g) prohibition on certain justice-involved persons possessing guns. But it is unlikley the Rahimi case will clearly resolve the constitutionality of § 922(g)(1).
Donald Trump has already had a profound impact on Second Amendment jurosprudence because he appointed three Justices to the Supreme Court who had a key role in the Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling. But I cannot help but wonder if Trump’s status as a non-violent felon subject to § 922(g)(1) might possibly add momentum to the developing Second Amendment jurisprudence that limits who can be forever dispossessed of firearms. (A notable 2009 article on these issues, titled “Why Can’t Martha Stewart Have a Gun?,” detailed the lack of longstanding constitutional history supporting a ban on non-violent felons possessing firearms. Perhaps it is time for an updated new title for this work:”Why Can’t Donald Trump Have a Gun?”.)
Prior recent related posts: