We’ve got our first post-McDonald decision [pdf], and it’s a bit of a disappointment. Judge Skyes’ original decision, in which the 7th Circuit had applied strict scrutiny to the “core right” of the 2nd Amendment and “intermediate” scrutiny to the rest, has been overturned.
The Heller dicta regarding “presumptively lawful” regulations and “longstanding prohibitions” were on full display here. I worry that those two phrases will continue to cause us trouble into the foreseeable future.
For now, the constitutionality of §922(g)(9) (the Lautenberg Amendment) still stands, and the bar for scrutiny has been lowered from strict to intermediate scrutiny across the board:
The United States concedes that some form of strong showing (“intermediate scrutiny,” many opinions say) is essential, and that §922(g)(9) is valid only if substantially related to an important governmental objective. [p. 8]