About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

50 Santa Clara L. Rev. 1263 (2010)
Administering the Second Amendment: Law, Politics, and Taxonomy

handle is hein.journals/saclr50 and id is 1287 raw text is: ADMINISTERING THE SECOND AMENDMENT: LAW, POLITICS, AND TAXONOMY Nicholas J. Johnson* INTRODUCTION Predicting the trajectory of the right to keep and bear arms is difficult. The task will become even harder if, as I expect, the United States Supreme Court applies the Second Amendment to the states in McDonald v. Chicago.' This article anticipates the post-McDonald landscape by assessing the right to arms in the context of several state regulations and the arguments that might be employed as challenges to them unfold. So far, the core test for determining the scope of the individual right to arms is the common use standard articulated in District of Columbia v. Heller.2 Measured against that, standard firearm regulations fit into three categories. The first category contains laws that are easily administered under the common use standard.3 The second category-and the primary focus of this article-consists of laws that can be approached but not fully resolved under the common use standard.4 These laws pose challenges of taxonomy5 that invite embellishment and manipulation of the common use standard. Some regulations fit into a third category that is entirely *Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law, J.D. Harvard Law School, 1984. Thanks to Gene Hoffman for his comments and Tameem Zainulbhai for his research and editing. 1. McDonald v. City of Chicago, 130 S. Ct. 1317 (2010). 2. Dist. of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 2817 (2008) (holding that firearms in common use for lawful self-defense are constitutionally protected). 3. See infra Part I. 4. See infra Part II. 5. I use the term taxonomy loosely to incorporate both substantive and political variables. 1263

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most