Briefs Submitted in Challenge to San Francisco Gun Laws that May Define Contours of Second Amendment Protections

On February 7, 2013 the NRA, the San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association and several San Francisco resident civil rights activists, filed their opening brief in Jackson v. San Francisco in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal seeks to overturn a November 2012 District Court ruling that upheld San Francisco’s draconian ordinances requiring handguns to be kept under lock and key at all times unless actually being carried, and banning the sale of common “hollow-point” self-defense ammunition. The plaintiffs are represented by the attorneys at the law firm of Michel & Associates, P.C.

This strategic Second Amendment civil rights case was filed in 2009 as one of the first “test” cases in the wake of the Supreme Court’s confirmation that the Second Amendment secures an individual, fundamental rights to arms in Heller v. District of Columbia. The Jackson case seeks to resolve many of the issues left unanswered by the Supreme Court in Heller, including the appropriate standard of review for future Second Amendment challenges, as well as the scope of the Second Amendment’s protections for ammunition and commercial transactions, among other things.

On February 14, four important amicus curiae or “friend-of-the-court” briefs were filed in support of the NRA’s efforts in the Jackson case.

Amici curiae Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence (CCJ), represented by constitutional law scholar and former Dean at Chapman University School of Law, Dr. John Eastman, and esteemed appellate litigator and former Chief Counsel for the Pacific Legal Foundation, Anthony T. (Tom) Caso. CCJ’s brief addresses the appropriate standard of review applicable to Second Amendment challenges. The brief explains that restrictions on fundamental rights are subject to the strictest judicial review, and that the fundamental right to arms is no different. Continue reading →