The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and its partners have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court urging the court hear David Robinson Jr. v. United States of America, challenging restrictions on short-barreled rifles (SBRs).

SAF is joined in the amicus filing by the Second Amendment Law Center, California Rifle & Pistol Association and Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus.

“In its ruling, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals decided that U.S. v. Miller (1939), and its ruling allowing restrictions on short-barrel shotguns because they had no documented militia use, remains controlling and applicable to SBRs as well,” said SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Kostas Moros. “That's wrong because even if it were correct that Miller remains the relevant standard, SBRs are demonstrably in regular use today in military roles, as the M4 rifle is the standard issue rifle of our military. Our amicus brief also makes several other arguments as to why the Eleventh Circuit’s analysis was flawed, and why the Supreme Court should grant cert in this case. We are hopeful the Supreme Court will step in and correct courts reaching the wrong conclusion on this fundamental question, both as it pertains to SBRs and to other common arms.”

As an initial matter, the brief explains that SBR’s are “arms” under the plain text of the Second Amendment. In order to then regulate them, it is the government’s burden to show a historical tradition of such regulation. The core of the challenged law distinguishes certain arms based on barrel length for particularly stringent regulation. But there is no historical tradition of restricting firearms based on barrel length. The core holding of U.S. v. Miller was that the arms the Second Amendment protects are those that are useful in militia service. Today, SBRs are not just useful in that role, they are the standard-issue rifle of our military, with standard M4 Rifles having barrels that are 14.5 inches long (under the 16-inch threshold established by the challenged law), and many widely used variants like the MK18 being shorter yet. Thus, to the extent Miller is still relevant at all, it supports the Petitioner's arguments, and not the other way around.

“This amicus brief is but one part of a broader effort by SAF to fight a multi-pronged battle against the National Firearms Act's restrictions on SBRs and silencers,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “In addition to this amicus brief, we have a landmark new lawsuit in Brown v. ATF challenging the entire constitutionality of portions of the NFA, all with the same goal in mind: Restoring the Second Amendment rights of all Americans.”

For more information visit SAF.org.

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.