HILLSDALE, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man who can’t buy a gun because he was briefly treated for mental health problems in the 1980s has won a key decision from a federal appeals court, which says the burden is on the government to justify a lifetime ban against him.

Clifford Tyler of Hillsdale said his right to bear arms is violated by a federal law that prohibits gun ownership if someone has been admitted to a mental hospital.

The 74-year-old Tyler was deeply upset by a divorce in 1985. But he recovered, continued working for another two decades and remarried.

The appeals court on Thursday sent the case back to federal court in Grand Rapids. The government must argue the merits of a lifetime ban or the risks of Tyler having a gun.