Background
A grand jury charged Dave Shumpert, III, with unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon under federal law. The district court denied Shumpert’s motion to dismiss the indictment based on Second Amendment grounds. Shumpert entered a conditional guilty plea and appealed the denial of the motion and the reasonableness of his sentence.
The court’s reasoning
The court held that the categorical prohibition on possession of firearms by felons is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The court noted that there is no need for felony-by-felony litigation regarding the constitutionality of the statute. Regarding sentencing, the court found the district court did not abuse its discretion. The court observed that Shumpert’s advisory guideline range was correctly calculated at seventy-seven to ninety-six months due to a four-level increase for possession of a firearm in connection with another felony offense. The district court considered all sentencing factors under federal law and discussed Shumpert’s criminal history in detail, including prior convictions for firearms possession, drug use, and escape.
What it means going forward
The decision reinforces the Eighth Circuit’s precedent that Second Amendment challenges to felon firearm possession bans must fail without a specific showing that the defendant’s particular circumstances fall outside historical tradition, which the court has already determined does not exist for the categorical ban.