Wolford v. Lopez · ¶131

To avoid this obvious outcome, the majority has to reconceptualize Bruen. Instead of applying a threshold criterion asking whether the challengers have shown that the plain text of the Second Amendment—which codified a preexisting right to carry—covers conduct that the challenged law restricts, the majority essentially directs courts to start by simply asking whether a gun owner cannot do what she wants with her firearm. Ante, at 13–14. The majority thereby eliminates step one’s effectiveness as a means of identifying gun-related laws that impinge on rights secured by the Second Amendment. This move represents a significant expansion that, as applied here, obscures what Bruen’s actual step-one analysis reveals: This case is about property rights, not gun rights.

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