Supreme Court Ruling Threatens Gun Charges Filed in Trump’s Alleged Assassination Attempt

Bruen directed judges to evaluate the constitutionality of gun laws based on the nation’s “history and tradition” of firearm regulation. Modern-day concerns — the efficacy of the laws in preventing crime, technological changes to firearms themselves, or rising rates of gun death — are no longer relevant. The Supreme Court ruled that now, for a gun restriction to be constitutional, it must have a historical analog. 

The new standard has set off a wave of legal challenges to gun restrictions across the country, placing dozens of gun laws under threat.

The Trace reviewed more than 1,600 federal court rulings that answered challenges brought over the past two years against an array of federal, state, and local gun laws — from assault weapons restrictions to bans on guns at the U.S. Post Office. More than 1,100 of those cases included a challenge to the felon gun ban, making it the most contested statute. 

At least two dozen defendants have also challenged the ban on possessing firearms with obliterated or defaced serial numbers, the second charge Routh faces. In at least one case, a defendant convinced a judge to find the law unconstitutional, though that ruling was later reversed on appeal.

If Routh challenges the charges against him on Second Amendment grounds, he will have to do so in Florida, where he is awaiting trial, and he will likely face an uphill battle. That is because federal courts in Florida are bound by precedent from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has ruled the felon gun ban constitutional.

“There’s a lot of confusion and courts are disagreeing across the country on whether policies are constitutional under the Supreme Court’s novel test,” Ruben said. “For these two particular charges, there have been scattered opinions that have found them unconstitutional in certain contexts, but they have not had that sort of success in the 11th Circuit, where Florida is.”

The number of divergent rulings on the felon gun ban in particular may prompt the Supreme Court to weigh in. One justice, Amy Coney Barrett, wrote a dissent supporting the restoration of gun rights to nonviolent felons while she was an appeals judge for the 7th Circuit.

David Chipman, a former agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said it’s likely that Routh will be indicted on additional charges once federal agents conclude their investigation. He said it’s customary for law enforcement to use firearm violations to keep a suspect confined while investigators gather evidence to support more complicated charges like attempted murder.

“Now,” Chipman said, “it’s investigators who have to get out there and get every bit of evidence to make sure a jury knows that this crime is exactly what it looks like — an attempted assassination.”

Champe Barton is a reporter at The Trace covering the gun industry. Chip Brownlee is a reporter at The Trace covering federal policy related to violence prevention and firearms. This article is published courtesy of The Trace.