A Concealed Weapon is Not Grounds to Search -  United States v. Wilson (2025)

Why This Case Matters for Every Law-Abiding Gun Owner

The Fifth Circuit just dropped a major pro–Second Amendment decision in United States v. Wilson (No. 23-30777, decided 2025), and it’s a textbook example of why Bruen-era courts are finally starting to push back against the “if you’re carrying a gun you must be suspicious” mindset that has plagued constitutional carry and permitless carry states for years.

Here’s the short version of what happened:

• Federal marshals were hunting a dangerous fugitive (Malik Fernandez) wanted for a drug-trafficking shootout.
• Multiple witnesses put the fugitive with Damion Wilson in the days and weeks beforehand; Fernandez’s last known address was even a house owned by Wilson’s family
• Deputies spot Wilson in public with a bulge under his clothing that looked like a concealed handgun
• They conduct a Terry stop, ask if he’s armed (he admits he is and says he has no permit), and eventually arrest him under Louisiana state law for carrying concealed without a license
• That arrest leads to marijuana, a search warrant, and federal drug + gun charges

Wilson moves to suppress everything, arguing the initial Terry stop was unconstitutional. The district court says “seeing a gun bulge = reasonable suspicion in a non-permitless-carry state,” and upholds the stop.

The Fifth Circuit emphatically rejects that reasoning—and in doing so hands gun-rights advocates a massive victory.

Key holding (this is the part every gun owner needs to memorize):

“A reasonable suspicion that someone is armed in public, in a state where carrying a concealed gun without a permit is unlawful, does not by itself justify a Terry stop… Otherwise, the entire class of people lawfully exercising their Second Amendment rights (or even unlawfully carrying) would be subject to seizure anytime an officer sees a bulge or printing.”

In plain English: Simply carrying a concealed firearm—even in a state that still requires a permit—cannot, standing alone, give police reasonable suspicion to detain you. That logic would completely eviscerate the Second Amendment by making every armed citizen automatically “suspicious.”

This is a direct repudiation of the pre-Bruen “I saw a gun so I stopped him” cases that courts used to rubber-stamp. The Fifth Circuit is saying loud and clear: the mere presence of a firearm in public is not inherently suspicious.

(For the record, this aligns perfectly with the Third, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits’ post-Bruen rulings striking down “firearm possession = reasonable suspicion” arguments.)

But the court still affirmed Wilson’s conviction—and here’s why that’s actually okay.

The deputies had way more than just a bulge. They knew:

• Wilson had a prior drug and firearms arrest
• He was one of the fugitive’s closest associates (“like brothers”)
• Multiple witnesses placed the armed, dangerous fugitive with Wilson in the immediate past
• Wilson lied to their face about not having seen Fernandez “in years” (despite an Instagram photo from four months earlier)

That’s classic reasonable suspicion of criminal activity (drug trafficking, harboring a fugitive, etc.) completely independent of the gun). So the stop was lawful, the arrest was lawful, and the evidence stands.

Bottom line for gun owners:

✅ Huge win: Carrying a concealed firearm (even without a permit in a permit-required state) is NOT reasonable suspicion by itself. ✅ Police still have plenty of tools: if you’re tied to violent crime, fugitives, drugs, or you lie during a consensual encounter, the stop can still be justified on other grounds. ✅ This precedent makes it much harder for anti-gun jurisdictions to harass lawful carriers with “bulge stops.”

The Fifth Circuit just drew a bright line: the Second Amendment means you can’t be seized simply for exercising the right to bear arms. That’s a massive step forward, even if the defendant in this particular case wasn’t a boy scout.

 This case is not precedent but the reasoning is solid and we are using this case (and its reasoning) in recent briefs.

If you are a gun owner whose 2nd Amendment rights are being violated, Daniel Horowitz and Molly Northrup will defend you and defend the Constitution.   Call us.