Washington, D.C. has spent decades using one flimsy excuse to turn local gun possession into a federal crime:
The gun crossed state lines at some point.
That is the hook.
That is the scam.
And now the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals may finally be ready to drag it into the sunlight.
The court has agreed to rehear United States v. Squire en banc, reopening a major fight over whether Congress can use the Commerce Clause to criminalize firearm possession simply because a gun or ammunition once moved in interstate commerce. The Fifth Circuit’s rehearing order even drew a warning from Judge Stephen Higginson that the court had “welcomed the possibility” of holding that Congress’ Commerce Clause power cannot support § 922(g).
The Feds’ Favorite Gun-Control Trick
The government’s theory is simple.
If a firearm was made in another state, Washington claims it can regulate possession of that gun forever.
No sale required.
No shipment required.
No trafficking required.
No actual interstate commerce required.
Just possession.
Under that theory, a gun sitting in a home in Texas can become a federal case because it was manufactured somewhere else years earlier.
Texas Gun Rights sees this for what it is: a federal police power dressed up in Commerce Clause language.
This Fight Is Bigger Than Squire
Squire involves 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), the federal prohibited-person statute. A prior Fifth Circuit panel affirmed Curtis Squire’s conviction after he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, while preserving his right to appeal.
But the no-compromise issue is much bigger than one defendant.
The question is whether Washington can federalize gun possession with a paper-thin interstate-commerce connection.
For years, courts have let federal prosecutors get away with it.
A gun was made in one state and later found in another.
That was enough.
If that theory survives untouched, nearly every firearm in America becomes a federal hook.
Where Does Washington’s Power Stop?
The Constitution gives Congress power over interstate commerce.
It does not give Congress a blank check to police every gun owner in America.
But that is exactly how federal gun control operates.
Washington stretches the Commerce Clause until almost every firearm, every round of ammunition, every private sale, and every local possession case can be dragged into federal court.
The Second Amendment gets treated like a privilege.
The Tenth Amendment gets ignored.
And the ATF gets another excuse to stick its nose into the lives of gun owners.
A Long-Overdue Reckoning
The Fifth Circuit has not struck down § 922(g).
This case is not over.
But the court is now staring directly at one of the legal theories propping up Washington’s gun-control machine.
For anti-gun politicians and federal prosecutors, that should be terrifying.
Because if the courts start asking where federal power ends, decades of gun-control assumptions could begin to crack.
Texas Gun Rights will continue exposing and fighting Washington’s gun-control power grabs — chip in today to help keep up the fight.
