USA v. James Bost
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed
Sitting en banc, the Third Circuit rejected James Bost’s Second-Amendment challenge to his felon-in-possession conviction, holding that § 922(g)(1) may constitutionally disarm persons whose prior convictions, like Bost’s terroristic-threats offense, show a prima facie risk of physical violence. Because Bost’s predicate crime inherently involved violent threats, the court affirmed the district court’s denial of his motion to dismiss the indictment and sustained his conviction.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) may constitutionally disarm all felons categorically or only those whose predicate convictions demonstrate a risk of physical violence, under the Second‐Amendment framework announced in Bruen.
Circuit Positions
§ 922(g)(1) is constitutional only if the government shows the defendant’s predicate offense (or other evidence) establishes a prima facie risk of physical violence—individualized, danger-based approach.
§ 922(g)(1) is constitutionally valid as a categorical ban on all felons’ firearm possession, without regard to violence or dangerousness of the underlying crime.
Conflict Summary
The Third Circuit holds that § 922(g)(1) is constitutional only when the predicate felony itself evidences a risk of physical violence (or the government otherwise proves individualized dangerousness), whereas a number of other circuits uphold § 922(g)(1) as a categorical, ‘felon means felon’ ban that applies regardless of whether the prior offense was violent.