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NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to District of Columbia’s Magazine Ban

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to District of Columbia’s Magazine Ban

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a challenge to the District of Columbia’s ban on the possession of magazines that hold over 10 rounds.

The plaintiffs petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the case after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. The D.C. Circuit ruled that the District’s magazine ban is likely constitutional because it is consistent with nineteenth-century Bowie knife regulations.

The NRA’s brief argues that the ban is unconstitutional and that the Supreme Court should hear the case to clarify the proper test for evaluating Second Amendment claims established in District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol, Ass’n v. Bruen.

Under Supreme Court precedent, if arms are “in common use,” they cannot be banned. Because Americans lawfully own hundreds of millions of magazines that hold over 10 rounds, the District’s ban on such magazines violates the Second Amendment.

The D.C. Circuit, however, held that despite 10+ round magazines’ commonality, they can be banned consistent with Bowie knife regulations from the nineteenth century. NRA’s brief points out, however, that even if common arms can be banned—despite the Supreme Court holding otherwise—the Bowie knife laws cannot justify the District’s magazine ban.

First, the only statute banning the possession of Bowie knives was held unconstitutional. Second, lesser, non-prohibitory historical regulations—such as laws prohibiting the concealed carry of Bowie knives, imposing sentence enhancements for their use in crimes, or taxing their ownership—cannot justify a modern prohibition on particular arms. Third, since no evidence in the case suggests that Bowie knives were in common use at the time they were regulated, Bowie knife restrictions cannot serve as historical analogues for restrictions on arms in common use today. Finally, because repeating arms capable of firing over 10-consecutive shots predate the Second Amendment by over 200 years and were never prohibited before the twentieth century, it is improper to rely instead on the tradition of Bowie knife regulations.

The brief was filed in Hanson v. District of Columbia.

Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org for future updates on NRA-ILA’s ongoing efforts to defend your constitutional rights, and please visit https://www.nraila.org/legal-legislation/current-litigation/ to keep up to date on NRA-ILA’s ongoing litigation efforts.

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North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule in NRA Case

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule in NRA Case

Yesterday, in Butler v. Bondi, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its statutory authority by issuing its 2024 Final Rule expanding ...

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

California officials’ egregious foot-dragging over the issuance of carry permits has finally attracted the ire of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). 

President Trump’s GOP Leads Polling on Crime and Guns, To No Surprise

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

President Trump’s GOP Leads Polling on Crime and Guns, To No Surprise

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that Americans know the President Donald Trump-led Republican Party has a better plan than their Democratic Party opponents on crime and gun control.

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Case Challenging the Federal Switchblade Act

Friday, October 3, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Case Challenging the Federal Switchblade Act

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief in Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bondi, urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas’s decision upholding the Federal ...

Trump Administration Repeals Biden Era Firearms Export Crackdown

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

Trump Administration Repeals Biden Era Firearms Export Crackdown

Last Monday, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the U.S. Department of Commerce published a final rule that reversed a crackdown on the commercial export of firearms from the U.S. to other countries.

Trust in Mass Media Craters to New Lows, in Single Digits With Republicans

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

Trust in Mass Media Craters to New Lows, in Single Digits With Republicans

There’s an old saying that rings especially true to Second Amendment supporters: If you don’t read the news, you’re uninformed.

Alphabet Eases the Reins on Censorship; Will Gun Content Eventually Benefit?

News  

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Alphabet Eases the Reins on Censorship; Will Gun Content Eventually Benefit?

With the free speech debate recently co-opted by one TV host’s use of false and incendiary remarks about his political opponents, it might have been easy to miss another important First Amendment story last week. 

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

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Monday, September 29, 2025

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

There have been multiple developments on the Canadian gun grab and ban in the last few days, but the most astounding has got to be a leaked bombshell recording of the Liberal Public Safety Minister, ...

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Friday, October 3, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to Hawaii’s law forbidding carry on private property open to the public (such as restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores) ...

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NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.