The appellate court opinion in Parker v. District of Columbia, 478 F.3d 370 (D.C. Cir. 2007), was the decision reviewed by the Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), where the Supreme Court held that a D.C. gun ban was unconstitutional, finding that the Second Amendment applied in the District of Columbia. Soon after the decision in Heller, a similar challenge was mounted in Chicago; see NRA, Inc. v. Chicago, 567 F.3d 856 (7th Cir. 2009). In McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), the Court held that this amendment applied to the States. In Caetano v. Massachusetts, 577 U.S. ___, 136 S. Ct. 1027 (2016), the Court held that a Massachusetts ban on stun guns abridged its decisions in Heller and McDonald. Please read Alito's concurring opinion.
Important Federal Appellate Court Cases:
The Fifth Circuit, in United States v. Emerson, 270 F.3d 203 (5th Cir. 2001), has a good analysis of the meaning and scope of this amendment. It held, after historical analysis, "We reject the collective rights and sophisticated collective rights models for interpreting the Second Amendment. We hold, consistent with Miller, that it protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms, such as the pistol involved here, that are suitable as personal, individual weapons and are not of the general kind or type excluded by Miller."
A municipal ordinance that was essentially a ban on "open carry" in D.C. was held unconstitutional in Wrenn v. District of Columbia, 864 F.3d 650 (D.C. Cir. 2017). Here, you may acquire the docket sheet for this case, along with all pleadings.
In 2013, the Maryland legislature enacted a ban on semiautomatic, military style guns, resulting in a civil case being filed to challenge its constitutionality. That federal court found the ban constitutional in Kolbe v. O'Malley, 42 F.Supp.3d 768 (D. Md. 2014). But on appeal, the Fourth Circuit panel found the ban unconstitutional in Kolbe v. Hogan, 813 F.3d 160 (4th Cir. 2016), and Maryland petitioned for rehearing. In 2017, in Kolbe v. Hogan, 849 F.3d 114 (4th Cir. 2017), that full court reversed the panel and found this ban constitutional. The Fourth Circuit's docket sheet for that appeal is available here.
But, aliens have no constitutional rights protected by the Second Amendment. See United States v. Portillo-Munoz, 643 F.3d 437, 442 (5th Cir. 2011)(“Whatever else the term means or includes, the phrase ‘the people’ in the Second Amendment of the Constitution does not include aliens illegally in the United States...”); United States v. Flores, 663 F.3d 1022, 1023 (8th Cir. 2011)(court agreed “with the Fifth Circuit that the protections of the Second Amendment do not extend to aliens illegally present in this country...”); United States v. Huitron-Guizar, 678 F.3d 1164, 1169–70 (10th Cir. 2012); and United States v. Carpio-Leon, 701 F.3d 974, 979 (4th Cir. 2012)(“illegal aliens do not belong to the class of law-abiding members of the political community to whom the Second Amendment gives protection.”). However, the Seventh Circuit has held otherwise. See United States v. Meza-Rodriguez, 798 F.3d 664 (7th Cir. 2015)(aliens have Second Amendment rights).
Articles:
In 2004, the Depart of Justice published a memorandum opinion, Whether the Second Amendment Secures an Individual Right, which is a great read.
The UN has issued Document 7277 promoting disarmament.
This interesting policy report, Cato Report, shows that gun control is bad. Read this report.
Organizations:
If you are thinking about joining an organization, Larry Pratt’s Gun Owners of America, is in my opinion, the best. I am a member.
The Second Amendment Foundation: Great folks from Missoula.
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership publishes lots of great articles.
For the ladies (and their pink handguns), the Second Amendment Sisters is for them.
