Perelman

Defendant David M. Perelman fraudulently obtained a Purple Heart and wore it in public. The government indicted him for violating 18 U.S.C. § 704 (a), which prohibits (among other things) the unauthorized wearing of military medals. Defendant pleaded guilty but reserved his right to appeal the district court’s rejection of his First Amendment facial challenge to the statute. Reviewing de novo the constitutionality of the statute, United States v. Vongxay, 594 F.3d 1111, 1114 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 294 , 178 L.Ed.2d 193 (2010), we affirm.

Defendant served in Vietnam for approximately three months in 1971. Twenty years later, he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh. He later claimed that the self-inflicted gunshot wound was a shrapnel injury sustained during his service in Vietnam. The United States Air Force awarded him a Purple Heart and other medals in 1994. Because of his receipt of the Purple Heart and other medals, the Veterans Administration gave Defendant more than $180,000 in disability benefits. The government alleged that Defendant wore a Purple Heart to a national convention of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Las Vegas,…