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Right to carry

Broadwater Elementary School in Billings, Montana | Hulteng CCM Inc.

Second Amendment

He Was Convicted of a Felony for Holding a Gun on the Sidewalk in Front of His House

Gabriel Metcalf argues that his prosecution under the Gun-Free School Zones Act violated his constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Jacob Sullum | 12.12.2024 4:20 PM

Guns

Firearms Law Textbook 2024 Supplement Now Available

For free -- 566 pages

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 9.17.2024 6:46 PM

Gov. Gavin Newsom with the Bill of Rights in the background | Lex Villena; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom

Second Amendment

9th Circuit Partly Upholds Injunctions Against Location-Specific Gun Bans in California and Hawaii

The ruling says some restrictions on guns in "sensitive places" are constitutionally dubious but upholds several others.

Jacob Sullum | 9.9.2024 4:30 PM

A train station in Garfield, Illinois | CTA

Second Amendment

A Federal Judge Says Carry-Permit Holders Have a Right to Armed Self-Defense on Public Transit

The ruling concludes that the government failed to show an Illinois ban is "consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."

Jacob Sullum | 9.4.2024 2:15 PM

Colorado State Capitol | Dennis MacDonald/agefotostock/Newscom

Gun Rights

Colorado Legislators Ditch Plan To Ban Guns in Dozens of 'Sensitive Places'

The amended bill applies only to schools, polling places, and certain government buildings.

Jacob Sullum | 4.5.2024 4:15 PM

Colorado State Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis | Official Photo

Second Amendment

This Colorado Bill Would Abolish the Right to Armed Self-Defense in Many 'Sensitive Places'

Legislators are taking a page from constitutionally dubious state laws that make carry permits highly impractical to use.

Jacob Sullum | 3.25.2024 1:40 PM

Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Todd Eddins | Facebook/Hawaii Governor's Office

Second Amendment

Hawaii's Supreme Court Insists There Is No Individual Right to Arms

Rejecting a challenge to the state's strict gun laws, the court is openly contemptuous of Second Amendment precedents.

Jacob Sullum | 2.8.2024 3:45 PM

A map of gun-free school zones in San Francisco | San Francisco Planning Department

Second Amendment

Based on Loose Reasoning, a Federal Judge Rejects a Challenge to the Gun-Free School Zones Act

The decision likens the federal law to Reconstruction era restrictions on firearms near polling places.

Jacob Sullum | 2.7.2024 12:01 AM

Gov. Gavin Newsom with the Bill of Rights in the background | Lex Villena; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom

Second Amendment

Gavin Newsom Defies the Supreme Court's 'Very Bad Ruling' on the Right To Bear Arms

California made carry permits easier to obtain but nearly impossible to use.

Jacob Sullum | 1.10.2024 12:01 AM

A handgun in a belt holster | Michael Tefft/Flickr

Second Amendment

9th Circuit Temporarily Restores the Right To Bear Arms As It Mulls California's New Gun-Free Zones

The state's law, which a federal judge enjoined last month, prohibits firearms in most public places.

Jacob Sullum | 1.8.2024 12:50 PM

A handgun in a holster | Mrhanson/Dreamstime.com

Second Amendment

California's 'Repugnant' Restrictions on Public Gun Possession Just Took Effect

After a federal judge deemed the state's location-specific gun bans unconstitutional, the 9th Circuit stayed his injunction.

Jacob Sullum | 1.1.2024 3:00 PM

handgun in holster | Ben Otano/Flickr

Second Amendment

2nd Circuit Rejects New York's Default Rule Against Guns in Businesses

The court upheld several other location-specific gun bans, along with the state's "good moral character" requirement for a carry permit.

Jacob Sullum | 12.13.2023 2:35 PM

California Gov. Gavin Newsom | Hector Amezcua/TNS/Newscom

California

California Defies SCOTUS by Imposing Myriad New Restrictions on Public Gun Possession

By banning firearms from a long list of "sensitive places," the state is copying a policy that federal judges have repeatedly rejected.

Jacob Sullum | 12.1.2023 3:05 PM

A handgun in a belt holster | Michael Tefft/Flickr

Second Amendment

A Federal Judge Enjoins Several Maryland Restrictions on Carrying Handguns

The decision is another rebuke to states that have imposed broad, location-specific limits on the right to bear arms.

Jacob Sullum | 10.4.2023 3:20 PM

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks at a lectern | Chancey Bush/Albuquerque Journal/Zuma Press/Newscom

Second Amendment

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's Unconstitutional Gun Edict Was a Huge, Bipartisan Flop

The governor's attempt to rule by decree provoked widespread condemnation instead of the applause she was expecting.

Jacob Sullum | 9.20.2023 2:30 PM

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks at a lectern | Chancey Bush/Albuquerque Journal/Zuma Press/Newscom

Second Amendment

New Mexico's Governor Suspends the Right To Bear Arms, Saying the Second Amendment Is Not 'Absolute'

Local police officials are leery of enforcing Michelle Lujan Grisham's ban on public carry, which gun rights groups have challenged in federal court.

Jacob Sullum | 9.10.2023 3:30 PM

A handgun in a belt holster | Michael Tefft/Flickr

Second Amendment

New Jersey's Restrictions on Public Gun Possession Are 'Plainly Unconstitutional,' a Federal Judge Says

The state defied a Supreme Court ruling by banning guns from myriad "sensitive places."

Jacob Sullum | 5.17.2023 2:15 PM

Concealed Carry

Preliminary Injunction Against NJ Ban on Peaceable Carry

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 5.16.2023 6:35 PM

Bowie knife | Knife Magazine

Second Amendment

The History of Bans on Types of Arms Before 1900

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 3.21.2023 1:15 PM

A handgun in a holster | Mrhanson/Dreamstime.com

Concealed Carry

New York's Message to Gun Owners: You Can Have a Carry Permit. Good Luck Using It.

A New York Times story about the state's location-specific gun bans glosses over the vast territory they cover.

Jacob Sullum | 2.27.2023 3:00 PM

Seven months after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional right to bear arms, San Francisco has not issued a single carry permit. | SFSD

Second Amendment

San Francisco Sits on Carry Permit Applications As Legislators Consider New Gun Restrictions

The city has not granted a single permit since the Supreme Court upheld the right to bear arms last June.

Jacob Sullum | 1.18.2023 1:35 PM

By banning guns from a wide range of "sensitive locations," New Jersey effectively nullified the right to bear arms. | Lev Radin/Sipa USA/Newscom

Second Amendment

A Federal Judge Blocks New Jersey's Sweeping Restrictions on Public Gun Possession

By banning firearms from a wide range of "sensitive places," the state effectively nullified the right to bear arms.

Jacob Sullum | 1.16.2023 3:20 PM

U.S. District Judge John Sinatra Jr. | Senate Judiciary Committee

Second Amendment

Two Federal Judges Say New York's Presumptive Prohibition of Guns on Private Property Is Unconstitutional

The state's ban applies unless the property owner posts a sign allowing firearms or otherwise gives "express consent."

Jacob Sullum | 11.23.2022 4:05 PM

Bowie knife | Knife Magazine

Second Amendment

The legal history of bans on firearms and Bowie knives before 1900

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 11.20.2022 12:55 PM

Second Amendment

Bowie knife statutes 1837-1899

Bowies were regulated like other knives; knives were sometimes regulated like handguns

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 11.20.2022 12:53 PM

Right to carry

Preliminary injunction against New York bans on licensed carry

Gun Owners of America prevail in Antonyuk v. Hochul

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 11.7.2022 8:56 PM

U.S. District Judge John Sinatra Jr. | Senate Judiciary Committee

Second Amendment

A Federal Judge Says New York's Ban on Guns in Church Is Unconstitutional

The state made it a felony to carry handguns for self-defense in "any place of worship or religious observation."

Jacob Sullum | 10.21.2022 2:25 PM

A New Jersey bill tramples on the right to bear arms while pretending to respect it. | N.J. Assembly Democrats

Gun Control

New Jersey Legislators Advance a Bill That Tramples on the Right To Bear Arms While Pretending To Respect It

Carry permit applicants would have to prove they are not dangerous, and guns would be banned from myriad locations.

Jacob Sullum | 10.19.2022 7:35 PM

Unfazed by a ruling against New York's restrictions on public gun possession, New Jersey legislators are proposing a strikingly similar law. | Facebook

Second Amendment

New Jersey Joins New York in Defying the SCOTUS Decision Upholding the Right To Bear Arms

Legislators in both states favor subjective standards and sweeping restrictions for carry permits.

Jacob Sullum | 10.19.2022 12:01 AM

After the Supreme Court upheld the right to bear arms, New York imposed new restrictions on it. | Lev Radin/Zuma Press/Newscom

Second Amendment

A Federal Judge Rejects New York's Attempt To Defy the SCOTUS Decision Upholding the Right To Bear Arms

The decision is a warning to states that impose vague permit standards or sweeping bans on guns in "sensitive locations."

Jacob Sullum | 10.7.2022 1:15 PM

Supreme-Court-building-Joe-Ravi-Wikimedia | Joe Ravi/Wikimedia/CC-BY-SA 3.0

Right to carry

Restoring the right to bear arms, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen

Article for Cato Supreme Court Review

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 8.9.2022 12:19 PM

California Attorney General Rob Bonta | Paul Kitagaki Jr/Zuma Press/Newscom

Second Amendment

State Reactions to the SCOTUS Ruling Against Discretionary Carry-Permit Laws Range From Compliance to Defiance

Some states promptly eliminated subjective standards, while others refused to recognize the decision's implications.

Jacob Sullum | 7.7.2022 5:15 PM

A handgun in a belt holster | Michael Tefft/Flickr

2nd Amendment

Handgun Carry Permits Transform a Right Into a Privilege

The argument for loosening restrictions on armed self-defense goes beyond the measurable impact on public safety.

Jacob Sullum | 3.30.2022 12:01 AM

Eric-Adams-11-7-21-Newscom | Luiz C. Ribeiro/TNS/Newscom

2nd Amendment

New York Treats a Second Amendment Right As a Crime

The Supreme Court should reject a law that bars ordinary people from carrying guns for self-defense.

Jacob Sullum | 11.10.2021 12:01 AM

Right to carry

Social science on the right to bear arms

Doomsday warnings don't hold up

David Kopel |The Volokh Conspiracy | 11.2.2021 11:26 PM

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