Kates and Levinson: A Post-Bruen Look at the Roots of Modern Second Amendment Scholarship

By LKB Like many of you, I am still processing the depth of the legal earthquakes from the Supreme Court late last month. With the 6 to 3 opinion in Bruen now the law of the land, the Second Amendment is no longer a “second class right,” and the test set out in Justice Thomas’ … Read more

Justice Thomas’s Quiet Influence on the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment Jurisprudence

In 2008, Thomas signed on to Justice Antonin Scalia’s landmark opinion holding that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to have firearms for self-defense. Supporters of gun rights believed that many gun regulations across the country would fall. But lower courts, citing a part of the District of Columbia v. Heller decision that said that the … Read more

The Meaning Behind the Supreme Court Granting Cert in NYSRPA v. Corlett

By LKB This morning, the Supreme Court announced that it has granted cert in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Corlett, the case challenging New York City’s “may issue” (read: no issue unless you are politically connected) system for granting concealed carry permits. To paraphrase a certain cognitively diminished occupant of a prominent D.C. residence, … Read more