County Official in Tennessee Sues to Get His Gun Rights Back

A convicted felon who now runs a program in Shelby County, Tennessee designed to help newly released offenders stay on the straight and narrow is suing to regain his right to keep and bear arms; the latest in a series of legal challenges over the federal prohibition on felons possessing guns and ammunition. 

It’s been more than 20 years since DeAndre Brown pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to financially defraud a Memphis bank, and though Brown had several run-ins with the law before that 2003 incident, he’s stayed out of trouble since he served an 18-month sentence in federal prison and about two years in a state penitentiary. 

In 2023 Brown was officially pardoned for his state-level offenses by Gov. Bill Lee, and he currently serves as the director of the Shelby County Office of Re-Entry, which is meant to “help reduce recidivism by connecting ex-offenders with resources, fulfilling their social and emotional needs, and by helping them become job-ready.”

Brown has served as director since 2021, but founded a non-profit with the same mission back in 2009. In addition to running LIFEline to Success, Brown is also the pastor of LifeLine to a Dying World Ministries.

None of that matters in terms of restoring his Second Amendment rights, though. Under federal law, Brown only has a couple of options available to him for relief: a presidential pardon, applying for relief through the ATF or DOJ, or challenging the prohibited person statute in court. As Brown’s attorneys note in their complaint:

While federal law provides for an individual to make application for relief from a firearm disability, the ATF has not been able to act upon such applications since October 1992 when Congress began prohibiting funding from being used to act on such reliefs. Further, as of March 20, 2025, the ATF’s authority to process such applications was withdrawn and no other government department or agency has been assigned the process. Without the ability to apply to this court for relief from the [Gun Control] Act [of 1968], the lack of funding or an administrative program for individualized relief would abridge Mr. Brown’s second amendment rights.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the Justice Department will be handling applications for relief from a firearm disability, but for the moment the DOJ is still setting up the new process and it’s not viable option for Brown. 

That leaves the federal courts. Brown isn’t mounting a facial challenge to the federal prohibited person statute. Rather, he’s suing over the statue’s specific harms as applied to him. In his complaint, Brown asserts that he wants a firearm for self-defense (and can purchase and possess one under Tennessee law thanks to his pardon) but he’s not allowed because of the broadness of the statute, which fails to consider whether an individual felon would truly pose a danger if allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights.  

“He has been the victim of violent crimes, and his best friend was shot and killed. He and his wife have also been the victims of burglary. Mr. Brown, justifiably, wants a firearm to secure his family’s safety,” the lawsuit read, adding further in the complaint that the “only reason Mr. Brown has not yet obtained a firearm is because he rightfully and reasonably fears arrest, prosecution, incarceration and fines should he attempt” to buy or be gifted a gun.

In arguing he should be given the opportunity to own a firearm, Brown’s attorneys said he has been rehabilitated and has “non-dangerous character.”

“Historically, firearm prohibitions were aimed at dangerous persons who posed a threat to public safety, not at rehabilitated individuals who have demonstrated their good character and contributions to society. Mr. Brown is a responsible, virtuous, law-abiding American. He has paid his debt to society and has not engaged in unvirtuous conduct in decades, or any conduct that would suggest he poses any more danger by possessing a firearm than an average American,” the lawsuit argued.

Brown’s case reminds me quite a bit of Meylnda Vincent’s similar lawsuit, which is pending consideration by the Supreme Court. Like Vincent, Brown appears to have turned his life around since his legal troubles years ago, and is now working to help others in similar situations. His work, like her counseling, has been recognized by the state where he lives and by local government as well. And like Vincent, there’s nothing in Brown’s recent past to suggest he poses a danger to himself or others if he can once again legally own a gun. 

Vincent, unfortunately, was denied relief by a district court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the federal statute fits within a national tradition of preventing “dangerous” people from owning guns. Other appellate courts have concluded, however, that not all felons are “dangerous”, and there needs to be an individualized finding of dangerousness before someone can be deprived of their Second Amendment rights. 

These issues might be mooted once the DOJ has officially re-started the process where folks like Brown can apply for relief from their disability, but until that happens lawsuits like this are basically the only way that prohibited persons like De’Andre Brown, Meylnda Vincent, and Bryan Range can have their Second Amendment rights restored. Justice won’t come easy, and surely won’t be quick, but my hope is that both Vincent and Brown do get the relief they deserve… and the relief that Range has already found. 

Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing historic work to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.

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