Restriction on Gun Possession Within 1000 Feet of School Constitutional, at Least When Possessor Is “Behaving Erratically and Menacingly”
From U.S. v. Allam, decided today by Fifth Circuit Judge Cory Wilson, joined by Judges James Graves and Stephen Higginson:
In August 2022, Allam embarked on a road trip in his father’s SUV from his home in Brooklyn, New York. By early January 2023, he pulled into Beaumont, Texas, via a circuitous, cross-country route. By the time he arrived in Texas, he possessed an AR-15-style rifle that he had purchased along the way in Pennsylvania. Since leaving New York, he had also been living in the SUV; he continued to do so while he was in Texas.
In Beaumont, Allam began parking his SUV for extended periods next to St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica School, a private school for students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. The Beaumont Police Department (BPD) was first alerted to his presence near the school on January 5. When approached by a BPD officer and asked if he had any guns or weapons, Allam replied that he did not. After being advised to park elsewhere, Allam was sighted in the following days near the Beaumont Civic Center and in front of a nearby Jewish synagogue for extended periods, prompting synagogue members to call BPD repeatedly.
Allam returned to the vicinity of St. Anthony around January 22 and remained parked next to the school almost continually, causing “fear and concern” among the school community. Attempts by teachers, BPD, and members of the public to get Allam to leave were unsuccessful. Due to Allam’s presence, the school “stopped having any type of outside … activity,” including “softball[,] … cheerlead[ing,] … [and] recess,” and the school prohibited students from “walking between classes outside.”
On Sunday afternoon, January 29, a school parent confronted Allam, who was sitting in his SUV parked adjacent to the school, and asked him to leave the area. Allam responded that he had a “mission” and that no one would ever see him again after Monday. Alarmed by Allam’s ominous statement and based on a strong suspicion that Allam possessed a gun, the parent immediately prompted BPD to post an officer near Allam’s SUV. Later that Sunday, when Allam began to drive the SUV from its parked location, the officer stopped him for various alleged traffic violations. When Allam refused to comply with the officer’s instructions, he was arrested. In Allam’s car, the police discovered the rifle, 150 rounds of ammunition, and a loaded thirty-round magazine.
{In addition, the police found “a series of random notes in Allam’s phones, several of which contained … descriptions of violent acts, including murder, torture, maiming, hate crimes, and rape … pointed seemingly towards the President of the United States[,] … the United States Government, and its citizens (including women and children).” The notes referenced “various Islamic extremists, terrorists, and dictators in the Middle East.” Allam’s phone also contained videos and images that showed “dead and dismembered cats,” “Allam gutting cats and pulling out their entrails with his hands,” and Allam “lighting [a] cat on fire.” Also in the car were “children’s clothing,” marijuana residue, and cocaine.}
When Allam was arrested, he was parked … “… a school-zone sign approximately 40 feet across from the school’s property line, adjacent to the school’s playground” …. From that vantage point, Allam had a “clear view of the … crosswalk that students use[d] to cross Forsythe Street on their way to the off-grounds basilica.”
Allam pleaded guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A),
It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone [i.e., is on the grounds of a school or within 1000 feet of a school]…..
[except] (i) on private property not part of school grounds;
(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do so by the [relevant] State … [which] requires that, before an individual obtains such a license, the law enforcement authorities … verify that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license; [or]
(iii) [when the firearm] is— (I) not loaded; and (II) in a locked container ….}
Allam appealed, arguing the s
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