In the 1993 case of Lenard Ray Beecham v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on whether a federal law prohibiting convicted felons from possessing firearms applied to individuals whose civil rights had been restored by state law but who remained subject to some criminal disabilities. The court held that if a person's civil rights have been reinstated after felony conviction, they are still prohibited from owning firearms under federal law if any restrictions related to their past crimes remain in place at the state level. This decision was based on an interpretation of language within the Gun Control Act of 1968 which exempts those whose civil rights have been fully restored following felony convictions from firearm prohibitions. In this particular case, Beecham and another defendant were federally indicted for possession of firearms despite having their civil rights restored because they were still barred under Texas and Georgia laws respectively from serving as jurors due to their prior convictions.

In the dissenting opinion for Lenard Ray Beecham v. United States, Justice Thomas disagreed with the majority's interpretation of 18 U.S.C § 922(g)(9), which prohibits individuals convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from possessing firearms. He argued that this law should not apply to convictions that occurred before the enactment of § 922(g)(9) in 1996 because it would be unfair and unconstitutional to retroactively punish someone for an act that was legal at the time it was committed. Furthermore, he contended that Congress did not clearly express its intent to apply this prohibition retroactively when drafting the statute. Therefore, according to principles of statutory construction and respect for individual rights protected by ex post facto laws, Justice Thomas believed Beecham’s conviction under § 922(g)(9) should have been overturned.