Jorge Medina v. Matthew Whitaker
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit · No. 17-5248 · 913 F.3d 152
👎Unfavorable to gun rights
Dismissal affirmed; the federal felon-in-possession ban stands as applied to a nonviolent felon.
GunMapUSA assessment of the outcome's direction, not a statement that the court decided rightly or wrongly.
What the court held
Jorge Medina, convicted in 1991 of a felony for falsifying his income on a mortgage application and later of misdemeanor hunting license fraud, argued that 18 U.S.C. section 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment as applied to him because he poses no heightened risk of gun violence. The D.C. Circuit affirmed dismissal, holding that people convicted of felonies are not among the law-abiding, responsible citizens protected by the Second Amendment and that Medina had shown nothing about his fraud conviction that distinguishes him from other felons. It added that community contributions, the passage of time, and evidence of rehabilitation are not relevant for unpardoned felons.
Summarized from the court's opinion.
What this case is about
Second Amendment challenge to the federal felon-in-possession ban by a nonviolent felon
GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.
Key Dates
- 2019-01-18 — Decided
Sources
- CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-08
Summary of public court records. Not legal advice.