Case Explained: United States of America v. Benjamin K. Striplin

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Filed: 2026-07-28 The eighth-circuit reversed the district court’s denial of Benjamin Striplin’s motion to dismiss his indictment for possession of a firearm as a drug user under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3) and remanded the case for further proceedings. The court held that while Striplin’s vagueness challenge failed because he admitted to frequent methamphetamine use at the time of possession, the district court erred in rejecting his as-applied Second Amendment challenge under the *New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen* framework. The court explained that § 922(g)(3) is not presumptively constitutional for all drug users and requires a fact-intensive inquiry into whether the defendant’s conduct is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation, such as posing a credible threat to physical safety or acting like someone who is both mentally ill and dangerous. Because the district court relied on outdated precedent and did not perform this specific analysis, the case was remanded to allow the district court to reassess the constitutional challenge in light of recent Eighth Circuit and Supreme Court guidance, potentially after supplementing the record with additional evidence. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.