Five months ago, Florida's attorney general called Christopher Morgan "not a law-abiding citizen" and fought to keep him convicted.
This week, he told the court to throw the whole thing out.
Here is what changed – and why it matters for every gun owner in America.
What Uthmeier Actually Said
Attorney General James Uthmeier walked into Florida's First District Court of Appeal and did something no Florida attorney general has ever done.
He told the court his own office got it wrong.
The case is Christopher Morgan v. State of Florida.
Morgan was convicted in Pennsylvania in 2007 – not for robbery, not for assault, not for threatening anyone.
He was caught carrying a firearm without a state license.
Fifteen years later, a Tallahassee officer pulled him over for speeding.
Morgan volunteered that he had an unloaded Glock 19 in the center console.
Florida charged him as a felon in possession of a firearm.
Uthmeier's office initially defended that conviction in September 2025, writing that Morgan "is a convicted felon, he is not a 'law-abiding' citizen."
Then Uthmeier actually read the Constitution.
In a February 13 brief, his office reversed course completely: "The Attorney General has concluded that the conviction does indeed infringe Morgan's right, as a nondangerous felon, to keep and bear arms. The State must therefore confess error and urge this Court to reverse."
The key line is this one: "Properly understood, the Second Amendment permits the government to dispossess felons whose convictions indicate that the felon is dangerous, but not merely all felons as a categorical matter."
This Is What Bruen Actually Means
In 2022, the Supreme Court threw out the old two-step test for evaluating gun regulations in NYSRPA v. Bruen.
The new standard: gun laws must be rooted in historical tradition from the founding era.
That one ruling cracked open the entire architecture of modern federal gun restrictions.
Here is what the historical record actually shows.
There was no blanket ban on felons possessing firearms when the Second Amendment was ratified.
No such law existed in the colonial period.
No such law existed through the 1800s.
The federal prohibition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1) – the law that strips all felons of gun rights forever – didn't arrive until the 20th century.
That's 177 years after the Second Amendment was written.
The Ninth Circuit said it plainly in United States v. Duarte: the government cannot point to a single founding-era law that permanently disarmed people convicted of nonviolent offenses.
Even Justice Amy Coney Barrett – writing before she reached the Supreme Court – put it in her Kanter v. Barr dissent that founding-era legislatures disqualified people from bearing arms only "when they judged that doing so was necessary to protect the public safety."
The Supreme Court itself recently sent a felon firearm case back to the 11th Circuit – which covers Florida – to determine whether the federal ban should even apply to people convicted of nonviolent crimes.
Uthmeier didn't wait for permission to act on what the law already requires.
Florida's Broken Clemency System and What Comes Next
The Second Amendment isn't the only thing broken here.
Florida technically allows felons who complete their sentences to apply to get their gun rights back.
The catch: they have to wait eight years after finishing every term of their sentence before they can even apply.
And then the wait begins.
Eric Friday, general counsel for Florida Carry and a pro-gun attorney in the state for more than 20 years, put it directly: "Our clemency program is so broken that I know people who have waited their eight years, and they've been waiting another decade, for action on their clemency application."
Florida has no judicial restoration process.
New York – New York – has a better path for felons to restore their gun rights than Florida does.
The DOJ recently published 22 names in the Federal Register with federal gun rights restored following decades-old convictions.
But the Morgan case could do more than any restoration program in Washington.
If Florida's First District rules in Morgan's favor – and Uthmeier is now begging them to do exactly that – the blanket felon ban under Florida statute 790.23 crumbles for every nonviolent offender in the state.
This isn't soft on crime.
A man who made a mistake at 22, paid his debt, and hasn't been in trouble in 30 years is not a dangerous person.
He's your neighbor.
And your neighbor has the same right to defend himself that you do.
Uthmeier's supplemental brief – due this week – will argue there is no historical evidence the Founders ever intended to permanently disarm people who committed nonviolent offenses.
Gun Owners of America didn't mince words: "Florida Attorney General Uthmeier just conceded that only dangerous felons lose 2A rights – this is what a REAL pro-gun attorney general looks like."
They also told AG Pam Bondi to sit up and take notes.
She should.
Sources:
- Logan Edge, "Florida Gun Rights Statement on AG Uthmeier Decision," Florida Gun Rights, March 2026.
- Lee Williams, "Nondangerous Felons Retain Gun Rights in Florida," Second Amendment Foundation Investigative Journalism Project, February 20, 2026.
- Scott Witner, "Florida AG Sides With Gun Owner: 'Nondangerous Felons' Have Second Amendment Rights," The Truth About Guns, February 2026.
- Tom Knighton, "Florida AG Acknowledges Mistake, Now Says Non-Violent Felons Should Have Gun Rights," Bearing Arms, February 23, 2026.
- "SCOTUS Kicks Felon Firearm Case to 11th Circuit," Courthouse News Service.
- USA Carry Staff, "Florida AG Admits Error, Says Only Dangerous Felons Should Lose Gun Rights," USA Carry, February 2026.
