Amicus Brief Challenging Lifetime Felony Disarmament Under Bruen

This amicus brief argues that Washington’s lifetime felony firearm disarmament statutes violate the Second Amendment as applied to a person convicted of vehicular homicide, because the State cannot identify a relevant historical analogue as required by Heller, Bruen, and Rahimi. The brief explains that the Supreme Court’s text and history test has been applied selectively, allowing courts to uphold felon disarmament through generalized dicta rather than rigorous historical analysis. It traces how felony-based firearm prohibitions operate as racially exclusionary policy shortcuts, given the racial disproportionality of felony convictions. Defenders can use this brief to challenge lifetime firearm bans as applied, particularly where the underlying offense is nonviolent and the State relies on broad assertions about “longstanding” felon prohibitions rather than specific historical evidence.