- It shall be unlawful for any person-
- who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
- who is a fugitive from justice;
- who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. §802));
- who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
- who, being an alien-
- is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
- (except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
- who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
- who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;
- who is subject to a court order that-
- was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate;
- restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and
-
- includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or
- by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
- who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
— 18 U.S.C. §922(g) 2025-03-14
This is the current version of section §922(g). The word “felon” does not appear. All definitions are included within the list.
As you read on, notice that we have gone from actually crossing state lines to “affecting commerce”. This is a huge power grab by the federal government. The Constitution authorizes them to regulate interstate commerce.
The power grab is that they now claim the can regulate anything that might affect interstate commerce.
This is not how it started.
- The term ‘indictment’ includes an indictment or an information in any court under which a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year may be prosecuted
— §921 in 1968
- It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer to sell or deliver—
- any firearm to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age, if the firearm is other than a shotgun or rifle.
- any firearm to any person in any State where the purchase or possession by such person of such firearm would be in violation of any State law or any published ordinance applicable at the place of sale, delivery or other disposition, or in the locality in which such person resides unless the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the purchase or possession would not be in violation of such State law or such ordinance.
- any firearm to any person who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe does not reside in (or if the person is a corporation or other business entity, does not maintain a place of business in) the State in which the licensee’s place of business is located; except that this paragraph shall not apply in the case of a shotgun or rifle.
- to any person any destructive device, machine gun (as defined in section 5848 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954), short-barreled shotgun, or short-barreled rifle, unless he has in his possession a sworn statement executed by the principal law enforcement officer of the locality wherein the purchaser or person to whom it is otherwise disposed of resides, attesting that there is no provision of law, regulation, or ordinance which would be violated by such person’s receipt or possession thereof, and that he is satisfied that it is intended by such person for lawful purposes; and such sworn statement shall be retained by the licensee as a part of the records required to be kept under the provisions of this chapter.
- any firearm to any person unless the licensee notes in his records required to be kept pursuant to section 923 of this chapter, the name, age, and place of residence of such person if the person is an individual, or the identity and principal and local places of business of such person if the person is a corporation or other business entity.
— §922 as of 1968
This does not seem to include as much as the current law does.
In October 1968, the law changed
- The term ‘crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year’ shall not include (A) any Federal or State offenses pertaining to antitrust violations, unfair trade practices, restraints of trade, or other similar offenses relating to the regulation of business practices as the Secretary may by regulation designate, or (B) any State offense (other than one involving a firearm or explosive) classified by the laws of the State as a misdemeanor and punishable by a term of imprisonment of two years or less.
— §921 — October 1968
Here we see that they have explicitly excluded misdemeanors with possible imprisonment of less than two years. The old version was greater than one year.
- It shall be unlawful for any person—
- who is under indictment for, or who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
- who is a fugitive from justice;
- who is an unlawful user of or addicted to marihuana or any depressant or stimulant drug (as defined in section 201 (v) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) or narcotic drug (as defined in section 4731(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954); or
- who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
to ship or transport any firearm or ammunition in interstate or foreign commerce.
- It shall be unlawful for any person—
- who is under indictment for, or who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
- who is a fugitive from justice
- who is an unlawful user of or addicted to marihuana or any depressant or stimulant drug (as defined in section 201 (v) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) or narcotic drug (as defined in section 4731 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954); or
- who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to any mental institution;
to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
— §922 — October 1968
Read that last line carefully. In November 1968, a person who was a “prohibited person” could no receive any firearm or ammunition which had been shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. They could still keep and bear arms. They could not buy or be given guns that crossed state lines.
This means that it was perfectly legal for a prohibited person to keep all the firearms they owned before becoming prohibited and they could manufacture firearms for their use. All legal.
It also meant, that if they were to buy direct from a manufacturer, that would be legal. For example, if they lived in New Hampshire, they could go to the Sig Store and purchase a gun manufactured by Sig in NH.
- It shall be unlawful for any person—
- who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
- who is a fugitive from justice;
- who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in §102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. §802)
- who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
- who, being an alien, is illegally or unlawfully in the United States;
- who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions; or
- who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce
— §922 — May 1986
Section (h) was rewritten to reference section (g) for who was prohibited. We also see that it is no longer receiving a firearm that is a crime, it is in possessing.
We still see that the limitation is on firearms that cross state lines. We see this in many federal laws. They will reference something crossing state lines being regulated. This is because that is all the Constitution authorizes the federal government to regulate.
These changes were part of “Firearms Owners’ Protection Act”. I just love it when something that is about protecting my rights adds more limits on rights. Yeah, I know, bad people.
In 1996, §§ 921-922 were amended to add definitions and text to prohibit who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
.
In 1998, in an “Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations” bill, they changed the definition of an illegal alien.
Conclusion
1) reading lawsuits is easy compared to reading “Public Laws”. They write bills like patch files. Instead of showing us the new version with strike through and underline to show removed and new text, they say things like (I) by inserting “transfer of a firearm to or” before “receipt”; and (II) by striking “(g) or (n)” and inserting “(d), (g), or (n) (as applicable)”.
I read that stuff all the time, but I have tools that make it easy to see the changes.
2) The law expands little by little, infringing more and more. What starts with something that feels reasonable ends with something that is totally unconstitutional.
Comments
6 responses to “GCA 1968, §922(g) prohibited persons”
A third point, if I may:
3) people can become insta-felons and not even know it, due to small wording changes and interpretations … Or just poor coverage of a new law.
There are simply so many laws, at all levels of government, that the average person who does not do so for a living, simply cannot keep abreast of all of them.
It’s by design. Politicritters, by nature, like to exercise power over the Citizens. That’s why our Founders wrote 2A.
Keeps the critters honest.
and ignorance of the law is “no excuse”….. unless you are leo…
“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kinds of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of lawbreakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Rearden, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.” — Floyd Ferris (in “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand)
On “affecting interstate commerce” — that is a scam first perpetrated by the infamous FDR, as a way to pull off the large scale power grab he called the New Deal. Since he got away with it, having intimidated the judges into going along with his schemes, subsequent administrations have built upon this abuse.
Although FOPA was sold to the 2A community as a prohibition against prosecution for mere transport of firearms and ammunition by Citizens, across State lines for legal purposes, it also was a surrender of rights.
The right to transfer legally owned full automatic weapons. Also, as highlighted, this right.
The loss of rights is incremental.
you can transport full auto firearms, you just have to notify atf and carry all your paperwork. the truely frightening part is many state and local police don’t know the laws and have never seen atf paperwork.. We the People have a long way to go..