Lawyer Challenges Lifetime Gun Ban For Felons

Wisconsin’s law banning all felons from ever possessing a gun violates the 2nd Amendment, according to a lawyer for a man who has challenged the long-standing prohibition.

Assistant Public Defender William Louis Poss, of Black River Falls, makes the argument in a motion to dismiss a felon in possession charge against Daniel Rueden of Spencer.

Rueden, 29, was sentenced to two years probation in 2006 for felony theft.  He was discharged in 2008, and then in March was charged with having a gun. Poss filed his motion in late July and the case is set for argument in Clark County circuit court in November.

As in that case, Poss cites recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions that expressly extended to the states the 2nd Amendment’s right to keep guns. The cases, from 2008 and 2010, overturned gun bans in Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

Poss argues that states can’t deny a fundamental right completely, for life, without the law passing strict scrutiny, that is, it must justified by a compelling government interest, be narrowly tailored to protec that interest, and be the least restrictive means of protecting it.-[source]