Notable gun-related Supreme Court cases
Written and edited by Meyer Hirsch
April 1st, 2024
April 1st, 2024
Introduction:
The United States stands at a crossroads when it comes to the regulation of firearms. Rooted in the nation's history and enshrined in its Constitution, the debate over gun rights and gun control has ignited passionate discussions across the political spectrum. At the heart of this debate lie the interpretations of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to keep and bear arms.
Important past cases:
- District of Columbia v. Heller (2008): This case is one of the most significant Supreme Court decisions regarding gun rights in the United States. The case challenged the constitutionality of a Washington, D.C. law that effectively banned handguns and required other firearms to be stored unloaded, and disassembled or trigger-locked. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for self-defense within the home and struck down the D.C. law as unconstitutional. The decision affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms unconnected with service in a militia.
- McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010): Following the Heller decision, this case challenged the constitutionality of Chicago's handgun ban, which prohibited most residents from owning handguns. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, held that the Second Amendment is fully applicable to the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, thereby incorporating the Second Amendment right recognized in Heller to the states and striking down Chicago's handgun ban.
- Gun-Free School Zones Act (1990): This federal law prohibited individuals from knowingly possessing firearms in a school zone, with certain exceptions. The law was challenged in the Supreme Court case United States v. Lopez (1995), where the Court held that the law exceeded Congress's power under the Commerce Clause. However, subsequent versions of the law have been upheld with modifications.
- Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993): Commonly known as the Brady Act, this federal law requires background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States and imposes a five-day waiting period on purchases. The law was named after James Brady, who was shot and permanently disabled during an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan in 1981. The law has been the subject of various legal challenges and amendments.
- Printz v. United States (1997): In this case, the Supreme Court struck down the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act provisions that required state and local law enforcement officials to conduct background checks on firearm purchasers. The Court held that such provisions violated the Tenth Amendment by compelling state officers to execute federal law.
- Presser v. Illinois (1886): “In view of the fact that all citizens capable of bearing arms constitute the reserved military force of the national government, as well as in view of its general powers, the states cannot prohibit the people from keeping and bearing arms so as to deprive the United States of their rightful resource for maintaining the public security. However, unless restrained by their own constitutions, state legislatures may enact statutes to control and regulate all organizations, drilling, and parading of military bodies and associations, except those that are authorized by the militia laws of the United States.”
Current/ongoing cases:
- Case: United States v. Rahimi
Question: Does the federal law that prohibits the possession of firearms by people subject to domestic violence restraining orders violate the Second Amendment?
The most closely watched gun case since Bruen, Rahimi deals with a 1996 federal law that bans the possession of firearms by people subject to domestic violence restraining orders. The defendant, a Texas man who was a suspect in several shootings, was under a civil protective order for the alleged assault of his ex-girlfriend when police found guns in his home. The order expressly prohibited him from having firearms, and he was indicted for violating the federal ban.
- Case: Garland v. Cargill
Question: Does the legal definition of “machine gun” include bump stocks, and did the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceed its authority in classifying them as such?
The Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas in 2017 was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, perpetrated by a man who used a dozen rifles equipped with bump stocks. These aftermarket devices enable semiautomatic rifles to fire more rapidly. After the shooting, the Trump administration’s ATF effectively banned the devices by defining them as machine guns, prompting lawsuits. In regards to the lawsuit, “It’s not asking whether someone has a constitutional right to have a bump stock, but whether ATF acted outside of statutory authority,” said Esther Sanchez-Gomez, the litigation director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the legal arm of the gun reform group. “It’s a question of whether the ATF has the power to do this in the first place.”
- Case: National Rifle Association v. Vullo
Question: Does the First Amendment allow a government regulator to press banks and insurance companies to consider risks when doing business with the gun industry?
After the 2018 Parkland shooting, New York State’s Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo warned the state’s banks and financial services providers to consider the risks associated with providing services to the firearms industry. The NRA sued, alleging that the guidance was motivated by disapproval of pro-gun views, in violation of the First Amendment, and was an attempt at coercing the companies under NYDFS’s regulatory supervision to sever ties with the firearms industry.
What you can do:
- Vote for candidates who will appoint judges/justices that support your values
- Make sure you know how a Supreme Court case will affect your life
- Educate yourself and those around you on the events leading up to the case as well as the case itself
https://www.ncsl.org/resources/details/supreme-court-to-decide-a-variety-of-gun-cases-this-term
https://www.thetrace.org/2024/01/scotus-gun-rights-rahimi-nra-bump-stocks/
https://supreme.justia.com/cases-by-topic/gun-rights/
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/second-amendment/the-supreme-court-the-second-amendment/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_firearm_court_cases_in_the_United_States
