United States v. Buay Chuol

United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 25-1508 ___________________________ United States of America Plaintiff - Appellee v. Buay Kong Chuol Defendant - Appellant ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Central ____________ Submitted: January 12, 2026 Filed: April 15, 2026 [Unpublished] ____________ Before LOKEN, ARNOLD, and GRUENDER, Circuit Judges. ____________ PER CURIAM.

Buay Kong Chuol sought to dismiss a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm as an unlawful user of a controlled substance under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) on the basis that the statute is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

The district court 1 denied his motion, and Chuol entered a conditional guilty plea preserving his right to appeal that decision.

On appeal, Chuol contends that the district court should have dismissed the firearm charge on the sole ground that § 922(g)(3) is facially unconstitutional under New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022). Choul acknowledges that we rejected that argument in United States v. Veasley, 98 F.4th 906 (8th Cir. 2024), cert. denied, 145 S. Ct. 304 (2024), but asks that we overrule that decision. We cannot do so. Mader v. United States, 654 F.3d 794, 800 (8th Cir. 2011) (en banc) (“It is a cardinal rule in our circuit that one panel is bound by the decision of a prior panel.”).

Accordingly, we affirm the judgement of the district court. ______________________________

The Honorable Stephen H. Locher, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. -2-