Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Hastings Law Journal
Abstract
This paper examines the post-Heller Second Amendment case law in the lower courts and concludes that although federal courts are not rushing to overturn gun laws under the Second Amendment, they are moving more rapidly to implement Heller than under previous 'revolutionary' decisions such as U.S. v. Lopez. There is also some evidence that state courts are taking the right to arms more seriously, with the additional possibility that the new federal right to arms may boost interest in the numerous state right-to-arms provisions. Finally, by characterizing gun ownership as a protected individual right, Heller has served to 'renormalize' firearms ownership, a change in legal philosophy that may be as significant as any doctrinal shifts.
First Page
1245
Last Page
1268
Publication Date
6-2009
Recommended Citation
Denning, Brannon P. and Reynolds, Glenn Harlan, Heller, High Water(mark)? Lower Courts and the New Right to Keep and Bear Arms (August 16, 2009). Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 60, p. 1245, 2009, University of Tennessee Legal Studies Research Paper No. 76, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1455989 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1455989