United States v. Steve Telusme

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Decided: February 19, 2026
• Docket: 25-10224
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

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NOT FOR PUBLICATION

In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 25-10224 Non-Argument Calendar ____________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff-Appellee, versus

STEVE TELUSME, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 9:24-cr-80076-AMC-1 ____________________

Before JORDAN, KIDD, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Steve Telusme appeals his conviction for possessing a fire- arm and ammunition in and affecting interstate and foreign com- merce as a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(g)(1), USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 2 of 10

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924(e), and possessing cocaine and fentanyl with intent to distrib- ute, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C). He argues that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment as applied because his criminal history does not indicate that he possessed a firearm in connection to his previous offenses or that he poses a physical danger to anyone. He also maintains that § 922(g)(1) vio- lates the Commerce Clause facially and as applied to him. As to his first argument, he contends that our decision in United States v. Dubois (Dubois II), 139 F.4th 887 (11th Cir. 2025), cert. denied, No. 25-6281, 2026 WL 135685 (U.S. Jan. 20, 2026), reaffirm- ing that, under United States v. Rozier, 598 F.3d 768 (11th Cir. 2010), § 922(g)(1) does not violate the Second Amendment, is inconsistent with our earlier ruling in NRA v. Bondi, 133 F.4th 1108 (11th Cir. 2025) (en banc), that as-applied challenges to firearm regulations must be analyzed under the framework announced in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. 680 (2024). Thus, he argues that, under our prior panel precedent rule, Bondi controls and his constitutional challenge to § 922(g)(1) must be considered under that framework. He also contends that Dubois II is inconsistent with our decision in Florida Commissioner of Agriculture v. Attorney General, 148 F.4th 1307 (11th Cir. 2025). In response, the government moves for summary affir- mance, arguing that Telusme’s Second Amendment arguments are foreclosed by Dubois II and Rozier and that his Commerce Clause challenges are similarly foreclosed by binding precedent. USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 3 of 10

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Summary disposition is appropriate either where time is of the essence, such as “situations where important public policy is- sues are involved or those where rights delayed are rights denied,” or where “the position of one of the parties is clearly right as a mat- ter of law so that there can be no substantial question as to the out- come of the case, or where . . . the appeal is frivolous.” Groendyke Transp., Inc. v. Davis, 406 F.2d 1158, 1162 (5th Cir. 1969). We review challenges to the constitutionality of a statute de novo. United States v. Jimenez-Shilon, 34 F.4th 1042, 1043 (11th Cir. 2022). Under our prior panel precedent rule, “a prior panel’s hold- ing is binding on all subsequent panels unless and until it is over- ruled or undermined to the point of abrogation by the Supreme Court or by this [C]ourt sitting en banc.” United States v. Archer, 531 F.3d 1347, 1352 (11th Cir. 2008). “To overrule or abrogate a prior panel’s decision, the subsequent Supreme Court or en banc deci- sion must be clearly on point and must actually abrogate or directly conflict with, as opposed to merely weaken, the holding of the prior panel.” United States v. Gillis, 938 F.3d 1181, 1198 (11th Cir. 2019) (quotation marks omitted). Abrogation requires the subse- quent decision to “demolish and eviscerate all the fundamental props of the prior-panel precedent.” United States v. Lightsey, 120 F.4th 851, 860 (11th Cir. 2024) (quotation marks omitted). The Second Amendment provides that “[a] well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” U.S. USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 4 of 10

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Const. amend. II. Section 922(g)(1) prohibits any person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year from “possess[ing] in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition.” 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, subject to certain limitations. 554 U.S. 570, 595 (2008). The Court held that the District of Columbia’s ban on handgun possession in the home, without any exception for self-defense, was unconstitutional as applied to a police officer who sought to keep a handgun in his home for self-defense. Id. at 574, 628–30. The Court cautioned that “nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill.” Id. at 626. The Court de- scribed such prohibitions as “presumptively lawful.” Id. at 627 n.26. Following Heller, we ruled in Rozier that statutory re- strictions on the possession of firearms by felons under any and all circumstances, such as 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), do not offend the Sec- ond Amendment. 598 F.3d at 771. In reaching this conclusion, we referenced Heller’s statement that “nothing in [this] opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the posses- sion of firearms by felons.” Id. (quotation marks omitted). In Bruen, the Supreme Court rejected the “means-end scru- tiny” test that several circuits had been using to apply Heller. 597 USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 5 of 10

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U.S. at 17–19. The Supreme Court clarified the proper test for Sec- ond Amendment challenges under Heller: (1) “[w]hen the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Con- stitution presumptively protects that conduct,” and (2) “[t]he gov- ernment must then justify its regulation by demonstrating that it is consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regula- tion.” Id. at 24; see id. at 17. In doing so, the Court repeatedly ref- erenced the Second Amendment rights of “law-abiding, responsi- ble citizens.” Id. at 26, 38 n.9, 70. Later, in Rahimi, the Supreme Court held that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8)—which prohibits the possession of firearms by individ- uals subject to a domestic-violence restraining order—did not fa- cially violate the Second Amendment because regulations prohib- iting individuals who pose a credible threat of harm to others from misusing firearms are part of this country’s historical tradition. 602 U.S. at 693–700. The Court noted that lower courts had misunder- stood the Bruen methodology and clarified that the Second Amend- ment allows firearm regulations “consistent with the principles that underpin our regulatory tradition” and are “relevantly similar to laws that our tradition is understood to permit.” Id. at 691–92 (quotation marks omitted). The Court rejected the government’s argument that a defendant may be disarmed simply because he or she is not “responsible.” Id. at 701–02. But it again noted Heller’s language that prohibitions on felons’ possession of firearms are “presumptively lawful.” Id. at 699 (quotation marks omitted). USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 6 of 10

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After Bruen but before Rahimi, we held in Dubois I that Bruen did not abrogate Rozier’s holding that § 922(g)(1) was constitutional because the Supreme Court in Bruen made it clear that its holding was a faithful application of Heller, which, in turn, clarified “that [its] holding did not cast doubt on felon-in-possession prohibi- tions.” United States v. Dubois (Dubois I), 94 F.4th 1284, 1292–93 (11th Cir. 2024) (alteration in original) (quotation marks omitted), vacated, 145 S. Ct. 1041 (2025), reinstated, 139 F.4th 887 (11th Cir. 2025) (Dubois II). The Supreme Court subsequently vacated Dubois I and remanded for reconsideration in light of Rahimi. Dubois v. United States, 145 S. Ct. 1041, 1042 (2025). While Dubois was on remand, we issued an en banc decision in Bondi, ruling that Florida’s law prohibiting the purchase of fire- arms by minors was not unconstitutional as applied to individuals between the ages of 18 and 21 because it was consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. 133 F.4th at 1111, 1117–30. In doing so, we cited Rahimi and Bruen in explaining that “when a person challenges a law regulating arms-bearing conduct, courts must examine the historical tradition of firearm regulation in our nation to delineate the contours of the right.” Id. at 1114 (quotation marks omitted). In our analysis, we noted a disagree- ment as to whether those under the age of 21 were part of “the people” protected by the Second Amendment, stating that some had “argue[d] that . . . ‘the people’ protected by the Second Amend- ment are the same as ‘the people’ protected by the First and Fourth Amendments.” Id. at 1130. But for the purposes of our analysis, we “assume[d], but [did] not decide, that individuals under the age USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 7 of 10

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of 21 are part of ‘the people’ protected by the Second Amend- ment.” Id. Then, in Dubois II, we again held that § 922(g)(1) did not vi- olate the Second Amendment and reinstated Dubois I. Dubois II, 139 F.4th at 888–89, 894. In so holding, we determined that neither Bruen nor Rahimi abrogated Rozier, relying on our reasoning in Du- bois I and noting that the Supreme Court in Bruen and Rahimi made clear that those decisions were in keeping with Heller. Id. at 891–94. We pointed out that Bruen did not concern § 922(g)(1) and that the only reference to felons in Rahimi was the Supreme Court’s reiter- ation that prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons are “presumptively lawful,” which suggested that “Rahimi rein- forced—not undermined—Rozier.” Id. at 893. Later, in Florida Commissioner, we found that a district court erred in concluding that two medical marijuana users had failed to state a claim in their as-applied Second Amendment challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(3) and (g)(3), which prohibit “unlawful users” of controlled substances from being sold or possessing firearms. See 148 F.4th at 1311, 1321. At Bruen’s first step, we concluded that the plaintiffs’ “conduct of attempting to purchase and possess firearms for self-defense purposes is clearly covered by the Second Amend- ment’s plain text” and that, “while there is a history and tradition . . . of disarming convicted felons, nothing in the [complaint] indi- cates that [the plaintiffs] have ever been convicted of any crime” or had committed any crime beyond a misdemeanor. Id. at 1317. At Bruen’s second step, we found that the government “ha[d] not USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 8 of 10

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pointed to any historical tradition of disarming those engaged in misdemeanant conduct,” that the plaintiffs had never been con- victed of a felony, and that the plaintiffs could not be considered dangerous people solely due to their use of medical marijuana. Id. at 1318–19. Significantly, we noted that the government “very well may prove at a later stage of litigation . . . that Appellants can fairly be considered relevantly similar to felons . . . who can categorically be disarmed.” Id. at 1321 n. 16. Here, the government is clearly right as a matter of law that Telusme’s Second Amendment challenge to § 922(g)(1) fails. See Groendyke, 406 F.2d at 1162. Telusme’s argument that § 922(g)(1) is unconstitutional as applied to felons like himself is squarely fore- closed by Rozier’s holding that felons are categorically disqualified from exercising their Second Amendment rights, which this Court reaffirmed in Dubois II. See Rozier, 598 F.3d at 771; Dubois II, F.4th at 892–93. In doing so, this Court considered and rejected the prop- osition that Bruen and Rahimi abrogated Rozier. See Dubois II, F.4th at 892–93. Under the prior panel precedent rule, this Court is bound to follow these holdings. See Archer, 531 F.3d at 1352. As such, Telusme’s discussion of this nation’s history and traditions, as well as his arguments regarding his criminal history, are imma- terial. Telusme’s attempt to evade these precedents based on a purported conflict between Bondi and Florida Commissioner on the one hand, and Rozier and Dubois II on the other, is unavailing. Bondi did not involve a challenge to a felon disarmament statute or ever USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 9 of 10

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suggest that Rozier’s analysis of § 922(g)(1) was inconsistent with Bruen and Rahimi. See generally Bondi, 133 F.4th 1108. While Bondi flagged a disagreement as to whether “the people” protected under the Second Amendment was the same as “the people” protected under the First and Fourth Amendments, it did not make any de- termination of who counted among “the people” for the purposes of its Second Amendment analysis, much less indicate that felons had a presumptive right to possess firearms. See 133 F.4th at 1130. Nor does Florida Commissioner support the purported conflict, as it expressly referenced felons as a class of people who can be categor- ically disarmed. See 148 F.4th at 1321, n.16. Thus, Bondi and Florida Commissioner have not abrogated Rozier because they are not “clearly on point,” do not “directly conflict” with Rozier, and do not “demolish and eviscerate [its] fundamental props.” See Gillis, 938 F.3d at 1198 (quotation marks omitted); Lightsey, 120 F.4th at 860 (quotation marks omitted). The Commerce Clause provides that “Congress shall have power . . . [t]o regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 3. In United States v. McAllister, we rejected a challenge that Congress exceeded its Com- merce Clause authority under § 922(g)(1) by regulating the mere possession of a gun, holding that § 922(g)(1)’s jurisdictional ele- ment—i.e., that a felon must “possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition,” 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) (emphasis added)—defeated the appellant’s facial challenge to the statute. 77 F.3d 387, 388–90 (11th Cir. 1996). We further found that the appel- lant’s as-applied challenge failed because the government had USCA11 Case: 25-10224 Document: 26-1 Date Filed: 02/19/2026 Page: 10 of 10

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demonstrated a minimal nexus to interstate commerce by showing that the firearm previously had travelled in interstate commerce. Id. at 390. We have repeatedly reaffirmed this holding. See, e.g., United States v. Scott, 263 F.3d 1270, 1272–74 (11th Cir. 2001); United States v. Wright, 607 F.3d 708, 715–16 (11th Cir. 2010); see also United States v. Jordan, 635 F.3d 1181, 1189 (11th Cir. 2011). As Telusme concedes, his facial and as-applied challenges to § 922(g)(1) under the Commerce Clause are barred by binding prec- edent. McAllister, 77 F.3d at 388–90; Scott, 263 F.3d at 1272–74; Wright, 607 F.3d at 715–16. As this Court has held, § 922(g)(1)’s requirement that a felon possess “in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition” forecloses any facial challenge to § 922(g)(1) under the Commerce Clause. See McAllister, 77 F.3d at 389–90. Telusme’s as-applied challenge is similarly foreclosed be- cause the factual proffer accompanying his plea agreement estab- lished that the firearm and ammunition at issue in Count One pre- viously had travelled in foreign or interstate commerce. McAllister, 77 F.3d at 390. Accordingly, because the government’s position is clearly right as a matter of law, we GRANT its motion for summary affir- mance. See Groendyke, 406 F.2d at 1162.