Title: Hollow Victory: Gun Laws Survive Three Years After District of Columbia v. Heller

Publication Date: July 2011

What does it say?

Three years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, ruling for the first time that the Second Amendment protects a limited right to possess handguns in the home for self-defense.

Last June, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the Court held that the Second Amendment was “incorporated,” extending Heller to apply to state and local laws nationwide, while again cautioning that the right to keep and bear arms was limited.

Since the Heller ruling, criminals and the gun lobby have brought more than 400 challenges to gun laws, an average of more than two legal challenges every week over the last three years. Yet, the courts have overwhelmingly rejected those cases.

In rejecting challenges to gun laws brought by the gun lobby and gun criminals, courts have held that:

• There is no right to carry hidden, loaded firearms in public
• There is no right to military-style assault weapons and assault clips
• Felons and domestic abusers have no right to possess firearms
• Gun owners may be required to safely store guns in homes
• Gun owners may be required to register their guns.

How can I use it?

Use this report to set the record straight on the impact of the recent Supreme Court decisions about gun ownership in the United States.  The record is clear that common sense gun laws are perfectly legal under the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  It is also clear that the NRA's true agenda is guns for anyone, everywhere, including felons and other dangerous people.

Citation

Vice, Dan, and Kelly Ward, Hollow Victory? Gun Laws Survive Three Years After District of Columbia v. Heller, Yet Criminals and the Gun Lobby Continue Their Legal Assault, Washington, DC: Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, July 2011

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