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Judicial Trends Mitigating the Incidence and Severity of Injuries and Other Harms

National Rifle Association v. Bondi

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Overview

(U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Cir., Mar. 9, 2023): The National Rifle Association (NRA) challenged the constitutionality of Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, alleging that the Act violated the Second Amendment. The Florida Legislature passed the Act in response to a 19-year-old man shooting and killing 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The purpose of the Act was to ban the sale of firearms to 18 to 20 year-old people “to comprehensively address the crisis of gun violence, including but not limited to, gun violence on school campuses.” The district court found no constitutional issue with the law, and the NRA appealed. The Eleventh Circuit conducted the historical analysis spelled out by the Supreme Court in N.Y. State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen and affirmed the district court’s decision, explaining that the Act paralleled the adoption of firearm restrictions for 18 to 20 year-old people in several states during the U.S. Reconstruction Era. Listing the historical analogues in an Appendix, the court found no Second Amendment violation. Read the full decision here.

View all cases in Judicial Trends and Public Health – May 16, 2023

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