Reyes v. Sessions

342 F. Supp. 3d 141
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided September 28, 2018·No. Civil Action No. 17-1643 (JDB)·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

JOHN D. BATES, United States District Judge

Before the Court is [10] the government's motion to dismiss the as-applied statutory and constitutional challenges brought by plaintiff Gregory Reyes to certain provisions of the federal criminal prohibition on possession of firearms by felons. Eight years ago, Reyes was convicted of violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and sentenced to eighteen months in prison. He now wishes to obtain a firearm but has been prevented from doing so by 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(1) and (g)(1), which prohibit the transfer of firearms to and possession of firearms by individuals convicted of a "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." This category of crimes, however, is statutorily defined to exclude "offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices." 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)(A). Because the Court finds that Reyes's convictions fall within this exception, the Court will deny the government's motion to dismiss.

BACKGROUND

I. STATUTORY BACKGROUND

Enacted in 1938, the first federal firearm disqualification statute initially prohibited the sale of firearms to and possession of firearms by felons and misdemeanants convicted of a "crime of *143violence," which was statutorily defined to include offenses such as murder, rape, mayhem, and burglary. See Federal Firearms Act, Pub. L. No. 75-785, §§ 1(6), 2(d), (f), 52 Stat. 1250, 1250-51 (1938). In 1961, Congress expanded the scope of these prohibitions to sweep in non-violent criminals, amending the prohibited class to include any person convicted of a "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year." See An Act to Strengthen the Federal Firearms Act, Pub. L. No. 87-342, 75 Stat. 757, 757 (1961).

Seven years later, Congress passed the Gun Control Act and again redefined the class of individuals disqualified from possessing firearms. See Pub. L. No. 90-618, 82 Stat. 1213 (1968). The Act, as amended and codified in part at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), prohibits any individual who has been convicted of "a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" from transporting or receiving "any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce." A corollary provision, 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(1), makes it unlawful "to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person" who "has been convicted in any court of[ ] a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year[.]"

Under the Gun Control Act, however, not all individuals convicted of a felony are disqualified from acquiring or possessing firearms. The term "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year" is defined statutorily by 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(20)(A) to exclude "certain commercial-type crimes," S. Rep. No. 90-1097, at 112-13 (1968), reprinted in 1968 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2112, 2202. Specifically, the Gun Control Act provided that the term did not include "Federal or State offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices as the Secretary [of the Treasury] may by regulation designate." Pub. L. No. 90-618, § 921(a)(20)(A), 82 Stat. 1213, 1216 (1968). Ultimately, the Secretary never designated any "similar offenses" as excluded, and in 1986 Congress eliminated from the definition the phrase, "as the Secretary may by regulation designate." See Firearms Owners' Protection Act, Pub. L. No. 99-308, 100 Stat. 449, 449 (1986). All "other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices" were thus excluded from the definition of a "crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year," and it was left to the courts to identify which offenses fell within this "business practices" exception. See S. Rep. No. 98-583, at 7 (1984) (noting that the Firearm Owners' Protection Act "makes the court, rather than the Secretary, the final arbiter as to what constitutes a 'similar offense relating to the regulation of business practices' ").

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

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Reyes v. Sessions, 342 F. Supp. 3d 141 (D.C. Cir. 2018).

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