An appeals court says someone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic battery under a city ordinance can legally have a gun.

The ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver could have broader implications for gun sales. The court on Tuesday threw out the case of a Kansas man who was convicted of violating a federal law that prohibits someone who's been convicted of domestic violence "under federal, state or tribal law" from owning a gun.

Alexander Pauler had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence under a Wichita ordinance. The appeals court found that the federal gun law doesn't apply to such municipal ordinances.

Pauler's attorney, David Freund, says it's the first time an appeals court has directly addressed that argument.

Prosecutors haven't decided whether to appeal.

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