The Volokh Conspiracy - States Whose Appellate Courts Take an Individual Rights View of the Second Amendment:

I had to come up with a list of them, and here it is: State v. Williams, 2006 WL 3438188, ¶ 20 (Wash. Nov. 30, 2006) (endorsing the individual rights view); Brewer v. Commonwealth, 2006 WL 3386645, *3 & n.5 (Ky. Nov. 22, 2006) (same); Rohrbaugh v. State, 607 S.E.2d 404, 412 (W. Va. 2004); Stillwell v. Stillwell, 2001 WL 862620, *4 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001); State v. Anderson, 2000 WL 122218, *7 n.3 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000); State v. Nickerson, 247 P.2d 188, 192 (Mont. 1952) (same); State v. Blanchard, 776 So. 2d 1165, 1168 (La. 2001) (treating the Second Amendment as on par with the Louisiana Constitution’s right to bear arms, which is clearly an individual right); Hilberg v. F.W. Wollworth Co., 761 P.2d 236, 240 (Colo. Ct. App. 1988) (likewise as to the Colorado Constitution), overruled as to another issue, Casebolt v. Cowan, 829 P.2d 352, 360 (1992).

The substantial majority (by a lopsided vote, 7 or so to 1) view among federal circuits remains that the Second Amendment only secures a collective right; some state courts (for instance, the New Jersey Supreme Court) take the same view. My point here is simply that there's a pretty substantial split among the courts, with several courts accepting a collective rights view and several others (plus Congress and the Justice Department, notwithstanding this dissent from the FAA, which I assume doesn't represent a considered reversal of the Administration's view) taking the individual rights view.

	[Eugene Volokh, January 3, 2007 at 12:00pm] Trackbacks States Whose Appellate Courts Take an Individual Rights View of the Second Amendment: I had to come up with a list of them, and here it is: State v. Williams, 2006 WL 3438188, ¶ 20 (Wash. Nov. 30, 2006) (endorsing the individual rights view); Brewer v. Commonwealth, 2006 WL 3386645, 3 & n.5 (Ky. Nov. 22, 2006) (same); Rohrbaugh v. State, 607 S.E.2d 404, 412 (W. Va. 2004); Stillwell v. Stillwell, 2001 WL 862620, 4 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001); State v. Anderson, 2000 WL 122218, *7 n.3 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2000); State v. Nickerson, 247 P.2d 188, 192 (Mont. 1952) (same); State v. Blanchard, 776 So. 2d 1165, 1168 (La. 2001) (treating the Second Amendment as on par with the Louisiana Constitution’s right to bear arms, which is clearly an individual right); Hilberg v. F.W. Wollworth Co., 761 P.2d 236, 240 (Colo. Ct. App. 1988) (likewise as to the Colorado Constitution), overruled as to another issue, Casebolt v. Cowan, 829 P.2d 352, 360 (1992). The substantial majority (by a lopsided vote, 7 or so to 1) view among federal circuits remains that the Second Amendment only secures a collective right; some state courts (for instance, the New Jersey Supreme Court) take the same view. My point here is simply that there's a pretty substantial split among the courts, with several courts accepting a collective rights view and several others (plus Congress and the Justice Department, notwithstanding this dissent from the FAA, which I assume doesn't represent a considered reversal of the Administration's view) taking the individual rights view.