United States v. Patton

McCONNELL, Circuit Judge.

It may seem like common sense to prohibit felons’ possession of bulletproof vests and other forms of body armor, which facilitate violent crime. Indeed, thirty-one states already do so. But the Constitution does not grant the federal government a police power or a general authority to combat violent crime. See Cohens v. Virginia, 19 U.S. (6 Wheat.) 264, 426, 5 L.Ed. 257 (1821) (Marshall, C.J.) (“Congress has ... no general right to punish murder committed within any of the States.”). The myriad provisions in the federal criminal code are justified, as a constitutional…