Quote of the Day
FINALLY — COURT STRIKES DOWN FEDERAL INTERSTATE HANDGUN PURCHASE BAN. There is finally a national market for handguns. It shouldn’t have taken 18 years after Heller to get here. Let’s review.
I first challenged this dumb law in 2011. My client, a DC resident, couldn’t buy a handgun because the only DC FFL had lost his lease and couldn’t take the transfer from the Virginia store. Fourth Circuit held — NO STANDING, because the Virginia store’s decision to not violate the law was its own voluntary choice, therefore, not traceable to federal enforcement threat. Lane v. Holder. Obviously a crazy opinion, but, you know, guns.
And it created a direct conflict with the 5th Circuit, which had just upheld standing to challenge federal purchase restrictions. Fourth Circuit did not care. So… I brought a lawsuit in Texas. Judge O’Connor beat the government up badly on standing, got them to basically admit it, and struck down the law. Mance v. Holder.
Shortly before the appellate argument, the 5th Circuit advised us to discuss standing at argument. Gov’t gets up and concedes we have standing, no two ways about it. Judge Prado looks bummed out. Puts his head in his hands. Anyway, panel still reverses. Gun dealers may be able to follow out-of-state rifle laws, but not out-of-state handgun laws. Mind you, the purchasers were DC residents who needed permits from the police to acquire the handguns.
We lose the en banc 8-7. Dissents by Elrod, Willett, Ho. And of course cert denied in 2020, because SCOTUS just wasn’t hearing anything about 2A.
Over six years later, finally, some sanity. Watch for SCOTUS to affirm. But this should have happened 15 years ago. So many people had their rights violated for so long.
Alan Gura @alangura
Posted on X September 18, 2026
This is what Gura was responding to:
For those who need a reminder: Alan Gura did the heavy lifting part of the D.C. v. Heller win in 2008 which got the ball rolling on restoring our rights. He was essentially unknown and justifiably achieved rock-star status with his win at SCOTUS.
As predicted, structural collapse. Expect the collapse to accelerate through next June when the “assault weapon” bans are ruled unconstitutional by SCOTUS. With that win the political left will essentially give up on meaningful resistance. We will have a lot of cleanup to do, but the lower courts will mostly stop open defiance of SCOTUS.
I will never get tired of winning. Prove me wrong.
Clearly an unconstitutional law but I do worry about impact on LGSs. I try to patronize them even though there is a price premium and often a inventory problem because I want to maintain local gunsmithing. I don’t do my own because I am a klutz. Most other gun owners do not agree with me. The do their own because they are technically adept, they bubba their guns up or they are price shoppers only. Often the LGS will take payment in cash while on-line sellers need a credit card.
What’ll really kill LGSs are state/county/city special firearm taxes. Seattle already drove all the gun stores out of the city limits with its ammo taxes and excess special requirements.
The power to tax and the power to impose requirements is the power to destroy. It’s not going to help the LGS if people pick up the attitude of, “whelp, I’m in Texas for a business trip, might as well get a gun”. Might as well invest in a wholesale operation onsite at DFW airport that will check your new purchase into your flight’s hold luggage for you.
It’ll be a while before federal law presumes that state/county/local special taxes and business requirements are presumptively unconstitutional as 2A violations, the way voting laws in many states were (and required federal per-authorization) for a long time due to consistent patterns of abuse.
Won’t help the current LGSs, but new LGSs in a generation or so may be able to grow, assuming an Amazon-like online gun retailer doesn’t rise and LGSs only work as non-stocking FFLs and gunsmiths/CNC/3D printer shops.
Agree. If the Supremes were doing their jobs, all these state local infringements would be subject to preemptive benchslaps if not criminal contempt charges.
I don’t think any of us are tired of the winning, but we are still Very Royally Pissed Off that it took so F***ing long. None of this should ever have been an issue that required, not just decades, but over a century to resolve….and it’s still not yet completely resolved. When I can go to Walmart, Home Depot or CVS and buy a clamshell-packaged Glock off a display hook on Aisle 8, then – maybe – it’ll be over.
But heed this:
It’ll be a while before federal law presumes that state/county/local special taxes and business requirements are presumptively unconstitutional as 2A violations,…”
That’s where the new battle will occur, and there will be a new batle; lots of them because the Freedom Haters will not give up until we force them to give up….one fucking, expensive, unnecessary court case at a time.