NEW ORLEANS (September 10, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it filed an important friend-of-the-court brief in United States v. Squire, urging the en banc United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse Curtis Squire’s conviction and hold that Congress cannot use the Commerce Clause to turn purely local firearm possession into a federal crime merely because a gun crossed state lines sometime in the past.
This case is about whether the federal government has constitutional authority to turn purely local firearm possession into a federal crime merely because the gun crossed a state line sometime in the past. Here, the federal government does not contend that Squire engaged in interstate commerce involving the handgun found in his home. Instead, it relies on the fact that the firearm had previously traveled across Louisiana’s border to prosecute him under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).
“The federal government does not get to use the Commerce Clause as a backdoor to powers the Constitution never gave it,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “A firearm does not become subject to permanent federal control just because it crossed a state line sometime in the past. That fiction has been used for far too long to manufacture federal crimes out of purely local conduct. Congress has limited, enumerated powers, and it is time for courts to enforce those limits.”
FPC’s brief argues that the Constitution does not give Congress a general police power to legislate on whatever subject it chooses. Instead, every federal law must rest on an authority actually granted to Congress by the Constitution. Mere intrastate possession of a firearm is noneconomic conduct, FPC argues, and Supreme Court decisions including United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison foreclose treating local criminal conduct as interstate commerce simply because Congress wants to regulate it.
The Squire brief is part of FPC’s broader effort to challenge federal gun-control laws that exceed Congress’s enumerated powers. FPC advanced a similar Article I challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) in United States v. Hemani. In that case, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that “§ 922(g)(3) appears to exceed Congress’s enumerated power to regulate interstate commerce” and cited FPC’s amicus brief in his opinion.
“This case is much bigger than one federal gun-control law,” Combs continued. “If the federal government can turn anything that once crossed a state line into a permanent excuse for federal control, then the Constitution’s limits on federal power mean very little. We are asking the Fifth Circuit to hold the line where the Constitution already draws it—nothing more.”
The brief can be viewed at FPC’s website here.
FPC is represented in this amicus filing by Bradley A. Benbrook, Stephen M. Duvernay, and Jamie G. McWilliam of Benbrook Law Group, P.C.
Individuals who want to join the FPC Grassroots Army and help support important legal efforts like this one can visit JoinFPC.org.
Media Contact: [email protected]
About Firearms Policy Coalition
Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit membership organization that exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty and eliminate unconstitutional gun control laws. FPC works—and wins—for the People through high-impact strategic litigation, groundbreaking research, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and public engagement. FPC’s legal division, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about how FPC is working—and winning—for the People, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
Read the full article here
