Bruen Wins Again: Second Circuit Upholds Felon-In-Possession Gun Ban and 78-Month Sentence

**Second Circuit Bolsters Felon Gun Ban Post-Bruen**

The Second Circuit just affirmed Tarrell Hendrix’s 78-month prison sentence for illegal firearm possession as a felon, shrugging off his self-representation gripes and plea-withdrawal bids. This non-precedential ruling reinforces 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)’s constitutionality under the Supreme Court’s Bruen test, signaling courts won’t easily gut longstanding gun restrictions. For crypto watchers, it underscores how judges are firewalling traditional Second Amendment fights from bleeding into digital asset regulation battles.

Hendrix pled guilty to possessing guns and ammo as a convicted felon, then went pro se post-plea, firing off motions to yank his admission—claiming coercion, drugs, and that § 922(g)(1) violates Bruen’s history-and-tradition mandate for gun laws. The district court greenlit his self-rep under Faretta but later reappointed counsel; it rejected his withdrawal pleas, citing his sworn courtroom affirmations of clarity and voluntariness. On appeal, the Second Circuit assumed any Faretta slip-up was harmless—Hendrix had counsel through plea and sentencing, and his pro se motion got full airing alongside a counseled one—then upheld denial of withdrawal, declaring prior precedent (Bogle) survives Bruen, as reaffirmed in Zherka.

In plain terms, courts presume your oath at plea time trumps later sob stories; self-rep rights exist but won’t torpedo solid convictions if counsel steps back in without harm. The felon-in-possession law stands firm—no Bruen revolution here—locking down post-conviction disarmament as historically rooted.

Zero direct crypto ripple: this is guns, not tokens. But it spotlights SEC-CFTC turf wars by example—regulators wielding post-hoc bans (like unregistered securities or commodities rules) mirror § 922(g)(1)’s “felon” bar, and courts are batting down facial challenges unless history crumbles. DeFi builders and exchanges exhale: expect similar steel for Howey-test classifications or stablecoin reserve mandates, as judges prioritize “tradition” over novelty pleas. Trader sentiment? Buoyed by predictability—less Bruen-style chaos means steadier odds against SEC overreach, though as-applied suits could still sting outliers.

Judges guard the old guard; crypto innovators, sharpen your history books for the real fights ahead.