Archive | second amendment

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

Supreme Court Update – Stun Gun a “Bearable Arm” Protected by the Second Amendment – Caetano v. Massachusetts

In Caetano v. Massachusetts, No. 14-10078, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous per curiam decision, reversed the decision of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts that a stun gun is not a “bearable arm” protected by the Second Amendment, District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), and McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010).  Ms. Caetano was given a stun gun by a friend to use for protection after an altercation with her abusive ex-boyfriend landed her in the hospital. Multiple restraining orders had proved unsuccessful in keeping the boyfriend away.  The next time the boyfriend accosted her, she displayed the stun gun and he went away.

Possession of a stun gun is punishable in Massachusetts by imprisonment of 6 months to 2 1/2 years.  Ms. Caetano raised a Second Amendment claim in the trial court, but it was rejected, and she was convicted.  The …

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Sunday, June 3rd, 2012

I Second That Amendment

United States v. Decastro, No 10-3773 (2d Cir. June 1, 2012) (Jacobs, Hall, Lynch, CJJ)

In 2002, Angel Decastro moved from Florida to New York to help run his father’s dry-cleaning business. After a violent confrontation with a customer, Decastro requested a handgun license application from the NYPD. He did not submit it, however; he claimed that a desk officer told him that there was “no way” that it would be approved. Instead, he returned to Florida, where he was licensed to own a handgun, and purchased two guns. He left one in Florida and brought the other back to New York. A few years later, he moved back to Florida but left his gun with a relative in the Bronx, planning to retrieve it later. In the interim, the relative’s girlfriend turned the gun in to the police. The police traced it back to Decastro, who was charged …


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