"Guns, Judges, and Trump" by Rebecca L. Brown, Lee Epstein et al.
 

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-20-2025

Subject Category

Law

Abstract

The Second Amendment landscape is widely perceived to have changed as a result of two cases, District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. But how much did it change and in what ways? Empirical work on these questions has been sparse. This Essay reports on a preliminary look at the data. Although this is a developing story, the impact of these cases appears to have been substantial, and not only by increasing the sheer number of gun cases in the courts. More significant is the way that the Court’s new historical test for assessing gun regulations has provided lower courts with so little guidance that enforcement of gun rights has displayed a significant degree of partisanship. The data calls into question the Court’s claim to have reduced the discretion of judges in enforcing the Second Amendment.

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