Third Circuit, En Banc, Range v. Lombardo: Not All
Modern Felons Lose Second Amendment Rights

By Dean Weingarten. June 12, 2023

On June 6, 2023, the The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in the case Range v Lombardo, issued an opinion:

Some felony convictions are not sufficiently based in the historical record to take away rights protected by the Second Amendment.

The opinion was agreed to by nine of the fifteen judges in the circuit. Readers are urged to read the entire 107 pages. Excerpts of the main opinion are included below. From the en banc decision:

On page 4, the majority opinion gives a summation:

Bryan Range appeals the District Court's summary judgment rejecting his claim that the federal "felon-in-possession" law—18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)—violates his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. We agree with Range that, despite his false statement conviction, he remains among "the people" protected by the Second Amendment. And because the Government did not carry its burden of showing that our Nation's history and tradition of firearm regulation support disarming Range, we will reverse and remand.

On page 5, a short explanation of the case: [...] .....