United States v. Garcia

Case: 23-40705 Document: 74-1 Page: 1 Date Filed: 02/28/2025

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

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United States Court of Appeals

Fifth Circuit

No. 23-40705

Summary Calendar FILED ____________ February 28, 2025

Lyle W. Cayce United States of America, Clerk

Plaintiff—Appellee, versus

Jonathan Garcia,

Defendant—Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 7:22-CR-1848-1 ______________________________

Before Jolly, Jones, and Willett, Circuit Judges.

Per Curiam: *

Jonathan Garcia appeals his conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Garcia contends that his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), and that § 922(g)(1) exceeds Congress’s power to regulate under the Commerce Clause. Garcia correctly Case: 23-40705 Document: 74-1 Page: 2 Date Filed: 02/28/2025

No. 23-40705 concedes that his Commerce Clause argument is foreclosed. See United States v. Alcantar, 733 F.3d 143, 145-46 (5th Cir. 2013).

On appeal, Garcia presents both facial and as-applied challenges to the constitutionality of § 922(g)(1) in light of Bruen. Garcia’s facial challenge to § 922(g)(1) is foreclosed by our recent decision in United States v. Diaz, 116 F.4th 458, 471-72 (5th Cir. 2024). Regarding Garcia’s unpreserved as- applied challenge, we have rejected plain-error Second Amendment challenges to § 922(g)(1) because the lack of binding precedent holding § 922(g)(1) to be unconstitutional post-Bruen means that any error is neither clear nor obvious. See United States v. Jones, 88 F.4th 571, 573-74 (5th Cir. 2023), cert. denied, 144 S. Ct. 1081 (2024).

For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM Garcia’s conviction.