The Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear Lester Landrum’s case. His petition, No. 25-7530, sits on the Oct. 19 order list under “certiorari denied,” with no noted dissent and no explanation. I’m disappointed, and I’d rather say so plainly than dress it up.
Landrum asked a simple question. Can Congress make possession of a gun inside a Mississippi home a federal crime because the gun was manufactured elsewhere? According to his reply brief, that was the government’s only commerce evidence. Under Scarborough v. United States (1977), prosecutors need show only “the minimal nexus that the firearm have been, at some time, in interstate commerce.” At some time has no expiration date. A Massachusetts pistol that has sat 40 years in one Mississippi nightstand is still federal business. Call it the Hotel California rule. The gun can check out of commerce any time it likes, but it can never leave.
