On Point: 34. Bear Arms, 2nd Am.

Moore v. Madigan, 7th Circuit Nos. 12-1269 & 12-1788, 12/11/12

7th Circuit court of appeals decision

Illinois’s broad ban forbidding most persons to carry a gun that is loaded, immediately accessible, and uncased violates the Second Amendment:

We are disinclined to engage in another round of historical analysis to determine whether eighteenth-century America understood the Second Amendment to include a right to bear guns outside the home.

State v. Daniel Lee Rueden, Jr., 2011AP001034-CR, District 4, 6/7/12

court of appeals decision (not recommended for publication); for Rueden: Eileen A. Hirsch, Kaitlin A. Lamb, SPD; case activity

Felon-in-possession, § 941.29, is not unconstitutional either facially or as applied in this instance; State v. Pocian, 2012 WI App 58, deemed controlling.

¶6        We need not discuss the specifics of Rueden’s facial and as-applied challenges because,

State v. Clarence E. Brown, 2011AP2049-CR, District 1, 4/17/12

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Brown: Daniel R. Drigot; case activity

Carrying Concealed Weapon, § 941.23 (2009-10) – Facially Constitutional

The court upholds the constitutionality of the prior version of § 941.23, CCW, as not violating the right to bear arms (since-modified, to allow conceal-carry under specified circumstances, 2011 WI Act 35). 

State v. Thomas M. Pocian, 2012 WI App 58 (recommended for publication); for Pocian: Martin E. Kohler, Craig S. Powell, Geoffrey R. Misfeldt; case activity

¶2        In 1986, Thomas M. Pocian was convicted of writing forged checks, a felony.  Twenty-four years later, Pocian was prosecuted under Wis. Stat. § 941.29, which prohibits a felon from possessing a firearm.  Relying on Heller and McDonald,

State v. Brian K. Little, 2011AP1740-CR, District 4, 1/26/12

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Little: Lane Fitzgerald; case activity

The court rejects  challenges to § 941.23, carrying concealed weapon, as facially violating the state and federal constitutional right to bear arms. (The statute presently allows concealed carry under specified circumstances, 2011 WI Act 35. Little was convicted under the prior version,

State v. Tiffany Michelle Flowers, 2011AP1757-CR, District 1, 12/13/11

court of appeals decision (1-judge, not for publication); for Flowers: Daniel A. Necci; case activity

Conviction for carrying a concealed weapon (gun in a purse, in a car), § 941.23, upheld against second amendment challenge to facial validity. Court rejects strict scrutiny test. (The statute was amended by 2011 Wis. Act 35, §§ 50-55, to allow among other things conceal-carry for licensees;

State v. Jeremy D. Pinnow, Milwaukee Co. Circ. Ct. No. 2010CM1978, 2/11/11

circuit court decision; case activity

Carrying concealed weapon charge dismissed, under as-applied (state) constitutional challenge, Art. I § 25. Pinnow had a cased, unloaded gun underneath the seat of his car, had himself been the recent victim of an armed robbery, believed with reason he was transporting the gun in a lawful manner, and wasn’t carrying the gun for an unlawful purpose.

State v. Joshua D. Schultz, Clark County Case No. 10-CM-138, 10/12/10

Clark County circuit court decision; for Schultz: William Poss, SPD Trial, Black River Falls

The complaint in this matter alleges that on June 10, 2010, the defendant was carrying a concealed weapon, a knife in the waistband of his pants which was covered by his shirt. The State alleges this is contrary to section 941.23, Wis. Stats.

7th circuit court of appeals decision (en banc)

Second Amendment – Categorical Ban on Possession

Categorical legislative bans on gun possession are permissible under the second amendment, including those for convictions of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence per 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9), which the court now upholds.

District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783 (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago,

McDonald v. City of Chicago, USSC No. 08-1521, 6/28/10

Two years ago, in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. ___ (2008), we held that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, and we struck down a District of Columbia law that banned the possession of handguns in the home. The city of Chicago (City) and the village of Oak Park,