United States v. Gregory Pruess, 703 F.3d 242

Pruess, a convicted felon and former firearms dealer, pled guilty to possession of ammunition in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
He reserved the right to challenge the conviction as violating the Second and Fifth Amendments.
Pruess has a long history of firearms-related convictions and extensive weapons collection.
Under Heller, the government recognizes a framework for evaluating Second Amendment challenges to presumptively lawful regulations.
The district court and this court have previously upheld § 922(g)(1) as applied to non-violent felons in similar cases.
On remand, the district court again rejected Pruess’s constitutional challenge; this court reviews de novo.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Does felon-in-possession apply to Pruess violate the Second Amendment?	Pruess is a non-violent felon deserving Second Amendment protection.	§ 922(g)(1) is presumptively lawful and does not violate the Second Amendment as applied here.	No Second Amendment violation; statute presumptively lawful as applied.
Is the application of § 922(g)(1) to Pruess inconsistent with equal protection under the Fifth Amendment?	Non-violent felons may be denied a fundamental right to bear arms.	Rational basis review suffices; regulation rationally related to public safety.	No equal protection violation; rational basis upheld.

United States v. Chester, 628 F.3d 673 (4th Cir. 2011) (two-step Chester framework for Second Amendment challenges to regulations that are presumptively lawful)
United States v. Moore, 666 F.3d 313 (4th Cir. 2012) (presumption of lawfulness for § 922(g)(1) in presumptively lawful category; streamlined analysis)
District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008) (right to keep and bear arms for law-abiding citizens; establishes presumptions for certain regulations)
Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55 (1980) (felon-in-possession rationale; rational basis support for public safety interests)
United States v. Barton, 633 F.3d 168 (3d Cir. 2011) (relevance of possession of stolen weapons to violent crime in evaluating risk)
United States v. Rozier, 598 F.3d 768 (11th Cir. 2010) (affirming § 922(g)(1) challenge to non-violent felon)
United States v. Vongxay, 594 F.3d 1111 (9th Cir. 2010) (non-violent prior convictions upheld under rational basis for § 922(g)(1))
United States v. Skoien, 614 F.3d 638 (7th Cir. 2010) (en banc reaffirmation of presumptive constitutionality of felon-in-possession)
United States v. Scroggins, 599 F.3d 433 (5th Cir. 2010) (statutory ban on felons possessing firearms upheld before Heller)