United States v. Hemani · ¶84
The difficulties Bruen has created are all the more striking when compared to the test it abolished: means-end scrutiny. Under that framework, courts measured the strength of the government's justification for the frearm restriction against the burden that restriction imposed on Second Amendment rights. See Bruen, 597 U. S., at 18–19 (majority opinion). Courts applied “strict scrutiny if the burden” on Second Amendment rights was “severe” and “intermediate scrutiny” if it was not. Id., at 103 (Breyer, J., dissenting). The means-end scrutiny assessment did not bind governments to the policy judgments of legislatures of yore, but neither did it operate as a blank check that allowed governments to trample on a constitutional right. See, e. g., New York State Rife & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Cuomo, 804 F. 3d 242, 264 (CA2 2015) (holding that a state ban on magazines loaded with more than seven…Read in context ›
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