An en banc Third Circuit affirmed a declaratory judgment that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment as applied to a Pennsylvania man whose qualifying conviction was a nonviolent second DUI.
On October 13, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, decided Williams v. Attorney General, No. 24-1091. The court affirmed the Eastern District of Pennsylvania's declaratory judgment that 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), as applied to Edward Williams, violates the Second Amendment.
Williams had two DUI convictions in the early 2000s. The second, at Pennsylvania's highest alcohol tier, was punishable by up to five years in prison and therefore triggered § 922(g)(1)'s lifetime firearm prohibition. Applying the Supreme Court's history-and-tradition framework, the court concluded that the federal government had not shown a sufficient historical basis for permanently disarming a person whose predicate offense was a nonviolent misdemeanor.
The ruling is binding precedent in the Third Circuit — Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is an as-applied decision: it does not strike down § 922(g)(1) on its face, and it does not change Ohio law. Federal firearm purchase, transfer, and background-check rules still apply to Ohio residents; the decision's effect outside the Third Circuit and any later review are separate questions. Not legal advice; verify current law and any controlling order before acting.
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