US v. Hunt: On the heels of Canada redux, the Fourth Circuit proceeded to address the question of as-applied challenges to the felon-in-possession statute, §922(g)(1). All the opinion tells us of Hunt is that his §922(g)(1) charge was based on a 2017 West Virginia conviction for breaking and entering.
Before addressing Hunt’s Second Amendment issue, the court first addressed the proper standard of review, given that Hunt had not challenged §922(g)(1) in the district court (Hunt’s plea came before Bruen). Hunt, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Class, argued that de novo review was proper, while the Government argued review was only for plain error. Ultimately, the court determined “the prudent course is to assume – solely for the sake of argument – that the plain-error standard does not apply here” and reviewed Hunt’s arguments de novo.
As to the merits, the court rejected Hunt’s as-applied challenge to §922(g)(1) on two alternate bases. First, the court concluded that post-Heller holdings of the Fourth Circuit foreclosed such challenges and nothing in Bruen or Rahimi changed that. This was backed up not only by Canada but by the court’s recent en banc decision in Bianchi. Second, the court concluded that “even if we were deciding this case unconstrained by this Court’s pre-Bruen precedent, Hunt’s challenge would still fail” because felons do not fall within the “people” protected by the Second Amendment. Even if they did, the court concluded that the challenge would fail under Bruen’s historical analysis as there were several examples of relevant “analogues” in the historical record to support disarming felons.
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