United States v. Buay Chuol

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Decided: April 15, 2026
• Docket: 25-1508
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________

No. 25-1508 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Buay Kong Chuol

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Central ____________

Submitted: January 12, 2026 Filed: April 15, 2026 [Unpublished] ____________

Before LOKEN, ARNOLD, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges. ____________

PER CURIAM.

Buay Kong Chuol sought to dismiss a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm as an unlawful user of a controlled substance under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) on the basis that the statute is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. The district court 1 denied his motion, and Chuol entered a conditional guilty plea preserving his right to appeal that decision.

On appeal, Chuol contends that the district court should have dismissed the firearm charge on the sole ground that § 922(g)(3) is facially unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). Choul acknowledges that we rejected that argument in United States v. Veasley, 98 F.4th 906 (8th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 304 (2024), but asks that we overrule that decision. We cannot do so. Mader v. United States, 654 F.3d 794, 800 (8th Cir. 2011) (en banc) (“It is a cardinal rule in our circuit that one panel is bound by the decision of a prior panel.”).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgement of the district court. ______________________________

1 The Honorable Stephen H. Locher, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. -2-