James Hamilton v. William Pallozzi
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · No. 16-1222 · 848 F.3d 614
👎Unfavorable to gun rights
Dismissal affirmed; Maryland's felon disqualification stands as applied to the plaintiff.
GunMapUSA assessment of the outcome's direction, not a statement that the court decided rightly or wrongly.
What the court held
James Hamilton, convicted in Virginia of three credit-card felonies and later granted restoration of his civil and firearms rights there, moved to Maryland and brought an as-applied Second Amendment challenge to Maryland's disqualification of people convicted of felonies from possessing handguns and long guns. The Fourth Circuit affirmed dismissal, holding that a state-law felon cannot pass the first step of its Second Amendment framework unless he has been pardoned or the law underlying his conviction has been declared unlawful, and that rehabilitation, likelihood of recidivism, and the passage of time may not be considered at that step. Virginia's restoration of his rights and his armed-security employment did not require Maryland to treat him as a law-abiding, responsible citizen.
Summarized from the court's opinion.
What this case is about
as-applied Second Amendment challenge to Maryland's ban on regulated firearm possession by a convicted felon
GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.
Key Dates
- 2017-02-17 — Decided
Sources
- CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08
Summary of public court records. Not legal advice.