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Article Library
Browse all legal analyses by Mark W. Smith
Topics: second amendment first amendment establishment clause originalism bruen methodology founding era history text and history legislative facts bipartisan safer communities act republican primary accountability
19:47 The Fifth Circuit Just Ran Heller and Bruen Through a Ten Commandments Case — And Quoted Joseph Story
Circuit Court
19:50 Bill Cassidy Loses His Primary — and the BSCA Betrayal Finally Gets Its Bill
Supreme Court
20:30 Second Circuit Kills New York's 'Vampire Rule' — and Judge Menashi's Dissent Could Reshape the Parks Doctrine
Circuit Court
19:52 Why the US Supreme Court Skipped AR-15s This Term — And Why It's Coming
Supreme Court
9:54 SCOTUS Kills Virginia's 10-1 Gerrymander — 9-0, Not a Single Dissent
State Supreme Court
19:06 Hoisted on Their Own Petard — How the Supreme Court's Mifepristone Stay Just Built the Case for Mailing Handguns
Supreme Court
12:03 Trump DOJ Expands DC Lawsuit — Now Targeting the Suppressor Ban Too
District Court
19:25 Virginia's Assault Weapons Ban Is Already Backfiring — Spanberger Just Put AR-15s on a Fast Track to SCOTUS
District Court
12:51 Breaking: Why the Third Circuit Is Sitting on Cheeseman and Koons — They're Waiting on Wolford and Hemani
Federal Circuit Court
15:25 Breaking: Two Fronts Open Against Illegal Gun Registries — Uthmeier Sues Jacksonville, GOA Goes After ATF
Federal Agency
19:29 Breaking: SCOTUS Clears Alabama in Allen v. Caster — A 6-3 Lifeline for the Second Amendment House Majority
Supreme Court
19:42 Breaking: Virginia Supreme Court Kills the 10-1 Gerrymander — and Democrats Float Firing Every Justice
State Supreme Court
17:01 Justice Thomas Hits #2 on the All-Time SCOTUS Tenure List — and the 2A Owes Him Everything
Supreme Court
19:43 ATF Is Finally Tearing Down Biden's Gun-Control Rulebook — Brick by Brick
Supreme Court
5:29 On Fox & Friends First: The Correspondents' Dinner Shooting, a Reckless Judge, and Meta's Child-Safety Day of Reckoning
Federal district court
10:05 Hawaii Capitulates: Non-Residents Win the Right to Apply for Concealed Carry in *Solinsky v. Lopez*
District Court
15:41 DOJ Sues Colorado and Denver — and Hoists Them on Their Own Petard
Federal District Court
11:48 Breaking: Trump DOJ Targets AR-15 Bans — And Predicts SCOTUS Will Strike Them Nationwide
Supreme Court
16:51 Breaking: KBJ's Own Dissent May Sink the Virginia Redistricting Power Grab
Supreme Court
19:58 SCOTUS Clears the Way in Louisiana v. Callais — An 8-1 Mandate Order That Just Reshaped the 2026 Midterms and the Second Amendment
Supreme Court
15:05 Amtrak's Lockbox Proposal Is a Win — But the Constitution Demands More Than a Lockbox
17:18 The Trump DOJ Just Told Denver: Repeal Your 37-Year AR-15 Ban — or We'll See You in Court
District Court
19:33 Inside the ATF Press Conference: Blanche's Mandate, Cekada's Reform Package, Leider's Architecture
18:57 Fifth Circuit Denies En Banc in Wilson — and Why That Is the Right Outcome for the Second Amendment Right Now
Court of Appeals
15:32 Unanimous Supreme Court Donor-List Win — Why Every 2A Organization Should Be Cheering
Supreme Court
15:03 ATF Drops 34 Proposed Rule Changes the Day Cekada Is Confirmed
Supreme Court
19:46 SCOTUS Just Saved the Midterms — and the Second Amendment
Supreme Court
16:17 The Left's Security Complaints at the Correspondents' Dinner Are a Gift to the Second Amendment
Supreme Court
19:57 Tennessee's Deadly-Force Debate and the Missing Half of the Second Amendment
19:07 White House Dinner Attack Alters 2A 'Gun Free Zones' Fight
Supreme Court
19:42 DOJ 2A Error Demonstrates Why Team Trump Needs a 2nd Amendment Czar Now to Thwart the Deep State
Supreme Court
19:24 Where the Trump DOJ Is Headed on the Second Amendment: A Post-NRA Convention Read
Supreme Court
17:45 What the Virginia Redistricting Fight Teaches the Second Amendment Movement
15:18 Hemingway's Alito Book Reports Kagan-Breyer Dobbs Clash: 2A Implications
supreme-court
12:27 SCOTUS Denies Cert in Gardner and Peterson: Setback for Travelers and Suppressor Owners
supreme-court
13:02 Breaking: Trump DOJ Opens 2A Unit Hiring to Those Living Outside DC Swamp
18:44 Senate Testimony Exposes the ATF's Billion-Record Gun Registry
federal-appellate
9:05 Harmeet Dhillon Warns Virginia Over AR-15 Ban, Calls for More Second Amendment Lawyers at DOJ
supreme-court
17:43 Congressman Thomas Massie Makes the Case for the Second Amendment's Anti-Tyranny Purpose Before the Senate
federal-supreme
11:52 DOJ Signals Reversal on Biden-Era Frame and Receiver Rule After Gun Owners of America Pressure
federal-district
19:33 The Second Circuit's Stun Gun Ruling: How Burden-Shifting Nullifies the Second Amendment
federal-appellate
18:58 Virginia's Ghost Gun Ban Has No Historical Foundation — and the Founders Would Have Agreed
18:31 Why the Trump DOJ's Statement on the Frame-or-Receiver Rule May Not Mean What You Think
federal-district
13:20 DOJ Fires a Shot Across Virginia's Bow: Civil Rights Division Threatens Lawsuit Over AR-15 Ban
18:27 The Trump DOJ Keeps Getting Second Amendment Methodology Wrong — and It Matters
federal-appellate
19:44 The Trump DOJ's Flawed Brief Against Suppressors and Short-Barreled Rifles in Brown v. ATF
federal-district
13:58 Trump's FY 2027 Budget Puts Second Amendment Front and Center
18:14 The First Circuit's Incoherent Ruling on Maine's Waiting Period in Beckwith v. Frey
federal-appellate
19:02 The Trump DOJ's Baffling Error in the Benson Magazine Ban Case
state-appellate
14:18 USPS Moves to Allow Handgun Mailing After DOJ Declares Nearly Century-Old Ban Unconstitutional
19:46 Who Should Replace Pam Bondi as Attorney General? A Second Amendment Analysis
supreme-court
12:05 Hegseth Ends Gun-Free Zones on Military Bases: A Second Amendment Milestone
9:43 Trump Posts Mark Smith's Fox News Interview on Birthright Citizenship — Here's Why It Matters
supreme-court
16:38 DOJ Fires Back at DC: Section 12601 Protects the Second Amendment, Too
federal-district
21:47 Two SCOTUS Cases, One Historic Term — What Hemani and Wolford Mean for Your Gun Rights
Supreme Court
19:51 Pam Bondi Fired: A Second Amendment Scorecard and the Solicitor General Problem
supreme-court
12:49 The Labeling Game Is Over: How Chiles v. Salazar Destroys the 'Assault Weapon' Myth
supreme-court
11:40 BREAKING: 8-1 SCOTUS Win in Chiles v. Salazar — Your License Doesn't Waive Your Rights
Supreme Court
15:11 The 14th Amendment Actually Says What Trump Says It Says — Here's the History
Supreme Court
13:47 BREAKING: The Biggest SCOTUS Win of Trump's Career Is Coming — Birthright Citizenship
Supreme Court
10:30 "The Trend Is Our Friend" — Stephen Halbrook on How Far We've Come on the Second Amendment
Supreme Court
19:15 BREAKING: Federal Judge Gets 'Sensitive Places' Wrong in Texas Gun-Free Zone Ruling
District Court
17:57 The Case That Could Unlock Nationwide Concealed Carry: Gardner v. Maryland at SCOTUS
Supreme Court
19:26 The Second Circuit's Stun Gun Shell Game — Shifting the Burden to Kill the Second Amendment
Circuit Court
16:37 SCOTUS Just Handed the Gun Industry a 9-0 Win — They Just Don't Know It Yet
Supreme Court
18:48 DC Just Got Spanked: Benson Win Sets Up the Magazine Ban Circuit Split SCOTUS Needs
State/DC Court of Appeals
15:18 Virginia Democrats Are Playing With Fire: Nine Gun-Control Bills May Torch Their Redistricting Gambit
19:36 The Trump DOJ Pistol Brace Brief Is Not the Crackdown Social Media Says It Is
Federal District
15:54 DOJ's Harmeet Dhillon Is Watching Virginia — and That's Very Good News for Gun Owners
Supreme Court
16:48 Breaking: FPC Fires a Direct Shot at New York's Times Square Gun Ban
Federal District
18:16 FPC v. Bondi: Judge O'Connor Expands Post Office Injunction to All FPC and SAF Members — What It Means in Practice
Federal District
18:51 DC Scrambles to Save Its Magazine Ban — But the Circuit Split Is Already Done
Federal Appellate
19:37 New Jersey Panics Over Benson — and Reveals a Fatal Contradiction
Federal Appellate
18:46 Breaking: Federal Court Expands Post Office Carry Injunction — FPC and SAF Members Win Big
Federal District
16:03 Rhode v. Bonta — The Ninth Circuit Just Drew an 8–3 Republican En Banc Panel on California's Ammo Background Check Law
Federal Appellate
16:43 Breaking: DOJ Policy Change Drives Huge 2A Win — DC's Magazine Ban Is Crumbling
Federal Appellate
12:15 What Makes a 'Sensitive Place' Constitutional? Halbrook and the Government Security Principle
Supreme Court
12:03 Judge VanDyke's Blistering Dissent Forces the Ninth Circuit to Face Reality
Federal Appellate
19:33 Temple Gun Club v. Bondi — The Federal Machine Gun Ban Has No Constitutional Hook
Federal District
18:29 Gardner v. Maryland: The Second Amendment Case That Could Unlock Nationwide Interstate Travel With a Firearm
Supreme Court
15:43 The Wait Is Over: Clement & Murphy Force the Supreme Court's Hand on Magazine Bans
Supreme Court
18:57 The NFA Hits the Supreme Court — Peterson v. United States Is the Case to Watch
Supreme Court
19:30 DC Declares Emergency After Court Strikes Its Magazine Ban — and the Panic Is Justified
District Court
14:56 Virginia Just Passed an AR-15 Ban — and the Supreme Court Bears Some Blame
Supreme Court
16:00 Solinsky v. Lopez: The Next Brick in the Wall for Nationwide Carry
District Court
15:48 Benson v. United States Is Already Paying Dividends — at the Supreme Court
Supreme Court
19:10 The Ninth Circuit's Immigration Fight Exposes the Anti-Gun Crowd's Glaring Hypocrisy
Circuit Court
19:45 Federal Court Strikes D.C. Magazine Ban — and Creates the Circuit Split We've Been Waiting For
State Court
20:05 United States v. Hemani: Why the Government's 922(g)(3) Case Falls Apart at SCOTUS
Supreme Court
15:06 SCOTUS Goes 9-0 in Urias-Orellana v. Bondi — Federal Courts Can No Longer Reopen Asylum Cases
Supreme Court
17:09 SCOTUS Shuts Down New York's Racial Gerrymander 6-3 — Big Win for the Midterms
Supreme Court
47:10 Stephen Halbrook: The Hughes Amendment Was Always Weaker Than ATF Pretended
Supreme Court
16:16 SCOTUS Vindicates Judge Benitez — and Delivers a Lesson for 2A Litigation
Supreme Court
18:42 United States v. Hemani Oral Argument: A Confusing Day That Went Better Than Expected
Supreme Court
20:44 The Solicitor General Just Handed the Supreme Court the Worst Possible 2A Case — United States v. Hemani
Supreme Court
26:34 The ATF Invented the Modern Machine Gun Ban — and Loper Bright May Undo It
Supreme Court
17:18 Villarreal v. Texas Tells Us Exactly Who's Writing Callais — and Why That's a Massive Second Amendment Win
Supreme Court
19:46 West Virginia's Machine Gun Bill Could Destroy the Entire Hughes Amendment
Supreme Court
18:42 SCOTUS Just Drew the Line That Could End NFA Registration — Learning Resources v. Trump
Supreme Court
19:00 West Virginia's Machine Gun Bill Is Legally Sound — Here's Why
Supreme Court
18:56 Florida Concedes: Non-Violent Felons Cannot Be Categorically Disarmed
State Court
19:28 Can the Government Ban Transgender Individuals from Owning Guns? Here's the Legal Answer.
Supreme Court
19:42 Anti-Gunners Sabotage Themselves in Schoenthal v. Raoul — And It's Beautiful
Supreme Court
16:11 Trump DOJ and VA End Three-Decade NICS Abuse — 300,000 Veterans Get Their Rights Back
Supreme Court
19:33 Koons & Siegel v. Platkin: The Third Circuit Takes On Gun-Free Zone Doctrine
Circuit Court
18:38 Koons v. Platkin En Banc: The Third Circuit's Fight Over Whether 1791 or 1868 Controls the Second Amendment
Circuit Court
19:31 Justice Scalia's Own Voice: The Heller Bench Announcement, Ten Years After His Death
Supreme Court
19:28 BREAKING: The Trump DOJ Just Filed a Flawed NFA Brief — Here's What Went Wrong
District Court
19:27 New Jersey Embarrassed at Third Circuit En Banc — A Ghost Statute and a 2A Reckoning
Circuit Court
13:52 If America Loses the AI War, the Second Amendment Goes With It
16:18 New Hampshire HB 1793 Just Passed the House — Campus Carry Is Coming
State Court
41:46 California's 3D Printer Lawsuit Against Gatalog Is a First Amendment Disaster Waiting to Happen
Supreme Court
18:00 Koons & Siegel Head to Third Circuit En Banc — New Historical Study Proves Sensitive-Places Bans Require Government Security
Circuit Court
18:29 Learn from the Gay Rights Movement: The Second Amendment Needs Sympathetic Plaintiffs
Supreme Court
15:33 Fifth Circuit Rules Illegal Aliens Must Be Detained Without Bond — A Major Win for Trump's Immigration Agenda
Circuit Court
19:13 Virginia Passes AR-15 Ban — and It Fails the Heller Test on Day One
Supreme Court
19:15 Virginia's HB 217 Tries to Disarm 18–20-Year-Olds — and the Historical Record Destroys It
State Court
15:14 Fourth Circuit Vacates DEI Injunction — A Big Win for Trump and the Rule of Law
Circuit Court
15:53 Judge Willett's One-Man Mission to Revive the Structural Constitution
Circuit Court
19:53 Jeanine Pirro's DC Carry Warning — What She Got Wrong, What She Got Right, and What It Reveals
Supreme Court
37:31 Peter Schweizer's Invisible Coup: How Weaponized Immigration Threatens the Second Amendment
Supreme Court
17:48 Hawaii's Pre-Emptive Retreat: SB3041 Is Just the Vampire Rule With a Neon Sign
Supreme Court
19:23 Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Lifetime Gun Ban for Meth Possession — *United States v. Hembree*
Circuit Court
6:36 CBS News Interview: Carrying at a Protest Is Your Right — Until You Cross the Line
Circuit Court
20:50 Virginia Court Blocks Democrat Mid-Decade Redistricting Power Grab
State Court
19:01 Trump DOJ Goes to War on Massachusetts's Handgun Roster — and Gets the Bruen Methodology Right
Circuit Court
18:58 Bost v. Illinois: SCOTUS Just Slammed the Door on the Left's Standing Dodge
Supreme Court
17:45 BREAKING: DOJ Fires Back at Virginia's Magazine Ban
Supreme Court
15:44 Eighth Circuit Slaps Down Minneapolis Immigration Injunction — A Win for Separation of Powers
Circuit Court
12:59 BREAKING: Trump Administration Stands Up for the Second Amendment — and Gets It Mostly Right
Supreme Court
16:41 Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Defends Black Codes as Second Amendment Precedent in Wolford v. Lopez
Supreme Court
19:38 Kipke v. Moore and the Right to Carry at Protests — What the Fourth Circuit Got Wrong
Circuit Court
16:17 Wolford v. Lopez: The Supreme Court Looks Ready to Bury Hawaii's Vampire Rule
Supreme Court
19:07 SCOTUS Hears Wolford v. Lopez — Hawaii's 'Vampire Rule' Is on Life Support
Supreme Court
11:11 PBS News Weekend Is Off the Air — and That's a Win for the Second Amendment
17:19 Sheriff Judd Lays Out Why Sanctuary Cities Are the Real ICE Problem
Supreme Court
19:33 The OLC Memo's Hidden Payload: Five Second Amendment Rights the Media Missed
Supreme Court
14:12 DOJ Declares 18 U.S.C. § 1715 Unconstitutional — and It's a Bigger Deal Than You Think
Supreme Court
18:33 The Machine Gun Ban's Achilles' Heel — United States v. Wilson Opens the Door
Circuit Court
17:21 Federal Judges Make the Case for Nationwide Carry — and Accidentally Make Our Case Too
Circuit Court
19:35 When the Left Sides With Criminals: What the ICE Backlash Tells Us About the Second Amendment
State Court
19:53 Trump DOJ Steps Into Rhode v. Bonta — and the Stakes Go Way Beyond Ammo
Circuit Court
19:05 Tennessee's Appeal Brief in Hughes v. Lee Gets the History Dead Wrong
State Court
6:03 The Maduro Capture Is an Arrest, Not a Kidnapping — and Here's Why That Defense Fails
District Court
16:35 DOJ Enters Rhode v. Bonta — and Calls California's Ammo Background Check an Unconstitutional Outlier
Circuit Court
18:47 Pam Bondi Is Not Coming for Your Machine Gun — The Maduro Indictment Explained
District Court
19:25 Trump Arrests Maduro — and the NFA Machine Gun Charge Is Not the Win You Think It Is
District Court
15:17 Ninth Circuit Strikes Down California's Open Carry Ban in Baird v. Bonta
Circuit Court
16:40 New York's New Mayor Just Declared War on Rugged Individualism — and That Means Your Guns
17:11 Trump DOJ Sues Virginia Over Illegal Alien In-State Tuition — and the Second Amendment Stakes Are Real
District Court
Coming Soon Snope and Ocean State Tactical Denied — But Kavanaugh's Statement Rewrites the Endgame
supreme-court
Coming Soon For the First Time in American History, the DOJ Is Pushing for 2A Wins at the Supreme Court
Supreme Court
Coming Soon SCOTUS Lets Young Adult Carry Win Stand — Eighth Circuit Strikes Minnesota's Age Ban
supreme-court
Coming Soon ATF Is in Huge Trouble — And That's Good News for the Second Amendment
Coming Soon The Ninth Circuit's En Banc Duncan Ruling Is Wrong — and VanDyke's Dissent Proves It
Court of Appeals
Coming Soon The SCOTUS USAID Stay Denial Is Totally Overblown — Here Is What the Court Actually Did
Supreme Court
Coming Soon TikTok Cert Granted: When the Soapbox Goes to the Supreme Court
supreme-court
Coming Soon The NYT's Gun Crime Map Just Made the Case for the Second Amendment
Coming Soon Garland v. Cargill: The Supreme Court Dismantles ATF's Bump Stock Overreach
supreme-court