⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Fifth Circuit hears argument in United States versus Madrid, a case that tests how far the Second Amendment reaches after the Supreme Court's recent gun-rights decisions. Anthony James Madrid was convicted of using a firearm during and in relation to drug trafficking. He received a mandatory ten-year consecutive sentence under federal law. He now argues that conviction violates the Second Amendment as applied to him, because he fired the gun in self-defense inside his home when masked intruders came to collect a drug debt. The core legal issue is whether the Second Amendment protects someone who uses a firearm in defense of his home when that use occurs during drug trafficking activity. Madrid brings this challenge on collateral review, through a petition under Section 2255, which allows a federal prisoner to attack his conviction or sentence on constitutional grounds. The case also involves several procedural hurdles: whether Madrid filed too late, whether he waived his right to appeal, and whether the government forfeited its objections by not raising them in the district court.

United States v. Madrid (No. 25-40161) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, argued July 8, 2026.