The US Supreme Court and Federal Gun Law Cases

Challenges to Federal Gun Laws

the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed

Updated July 8, 2024

Ratified in 1791, the Second Amendment provides, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

For over 200 years, the Supreme Court remained largely silent on the Second Amendment.

In a series of relatively recent decisions, however, the Court has provided guidance on the substance and scope of the constitutional provision.

District of Columbia v. Heller

In 2008, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms for certain purposes, including at least self-defense in the home.

Facts of the case: Provisions of the District of Columbia Code made it illegal to carry an unregistered firearm and prohibited the registration of handguns, though the chief of police could issue one-year licenses for handguns. The Code also contained provisions that required owners of lawfully registered firearms to keep them unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock or other similar device unless the firearms were located in a place of business or being used for legal recreational activities.

Question: Do the provisions of the District of Columbia Code that restrict the licensing of handguns and require licensed firearms kept in the home to be kept nonfunctional violate the Second Amendment?

Read more details, court responses and conclusions here District of Columbia v. Heller

McDonald v. City of Chicago

Two years later, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the Court established that the right to bear arms is a “fundamental” right, applying to laws at all levels of government.

In 2016, in Caetano v. Massachusetts, the Court in a brief opinion clarified that “arms” within the meaning of the Second Amendment encompass modern arms, including stun guns, that did not exist at the time of the founding.

Facts of the case: Several suits were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. In that case, the Supreme Court held that a District of Columbia handgun ban violated the Second Amendment.

There, the Court reasoned that the law in question was enacted under the authority of the federal government and, thus, the Second Amendment was applicable.

Plaintiffs argued that the Second Amendment should also apply to the states, with the district court dismissing the suits. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed on appeal.

Question: Is the Second Amendment applicable to the states through incorporation by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities or Due Process clauses, thereby extending its reach to state jurisdictions?

Read more details, court responses and conclusions here McDonald v. City of Chicago

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen

In 2022, the Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen resolved two of the questions left open following Heller and McDonald:

Does the right to bear arms extend beyond the home, and how are courts to assess purported infringements of the right?

In Bruen, the Court established that the Second Amendment safeguards apply outside the home and specified the criteria for evaluating challenges to firearm laws:

When the plain text of the Second Amendment covers the regulated conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects it; to justify a regulation of that conduct, the government must demonstrate that a challenged law is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

Facts of the case: The clowns of New York require a person to show a special need for self-protection to receive an unrestricted license to carry a concealed firearm outside the home.

Robert Nash and Brandon Koch challenged the law after New York rejected their concealed-carry applications based on failure to show “proper cause.” A district court dismissed their claims, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed.

Question: Does New York’s law requiring that applicants for unrestricted concealed-carry licenses demonstrate a special need for self-defense violate the Second Amendment?

Read more details, court responses and conclusions here New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen

Following Bruen, parties have initiated several legal challenges contesting different firearm laws and regulations, such as federal categorical restrictions on firearm possession.

United States v. Rahimi

In 2024, the Supreme Court held in United States v. Rahimi that one such prohibition, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which applies to persons subject to certain domestic-violence restraining orders, is generally consistent with the Second Amendment.

The Court determined that sufficient historical support existed for the principle that “[w]hen an individual poses a clear threat of physical violence to another, the threatening individual may be disarmed” temporarily.

Facts of the case: Between December 2020 and January 2021, Zackey Rahimi was involved in a series of violent incidents in Arlington, Texas, including multiple shootings and a hit-and-run.

Rahimi was under a civil protective order for alleged assault against his ex-girlfriend, which explicitly prohibited him from possessing firearms.

Police searched his home and found a rifle and a pistol, leading to Rahimi’s indictment for violating federal law 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which makes it unlawful for someone under a domestic violence restraining order to possess firearms. Rahimi moved to dismiss the indictment on constitutional grounds but was denied, as his argument was foreclosed by United States v. McGinnis, 956 F.3d 747 (5th Cir. 2020).

Rahimi pleaded guilty but continued his constitutional challenge on appeal. As the appeal was pending, the U.S. Supreme Court decided New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 579 U.S. __ (2022). Rahimi argued that Bruen overruled McGinnis and thus that § 922(g)(8) was unconstitutional, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed.

Question: Does 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8), which prohibits the possession of firearms by persons subject to domestic-violence restraining orders, violate the Second Amendment?

Read more details, court responses and conclusions here United States v. Rahimi

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