District of Columbia V. Heller - Legacy

Legacy

Initial reaction has deemed the Heller ruling to be of great significance, though it remains too soon to tell what the long term effects may be. Sanford Levinson has written that he is inclined to believe that the Heller will be relatively insignificant to the practice of law in the long run but that it will have significance to other groups interested in cultural literacy and constitutional designers. Both Levinson and Mark Tushnet have speculated that it is quite unlikely that the case will be studied as part of casebooks of future law schools. As was predicted, a large surge of court cases was seen in lower federal courts in the aftermath of the 2008 ruling. Over 80 cases have been filed seeking to overturn existing gun laws. The decision in McDonald v. Chicago, which was brought in response to Heller and decided in 2010, did invalidate much of Chicago's gun purchase and registration laws, and has called into question many other state and local laws restricting purchase, possession and carry of firearms.