On January 29, 2013, I attended a discussion between Alan Gura, the attorney who successfully argued the Heller v. D.C. and McDonald v. Chicago 2nd Amendment cases in the Supreme Court, and Cornell Law Professor Michael Dorf. Gura was invited by the Cornell Law Federalist Society and Second Amendment Club.

The discussion was fascinating, and I strongly urge you to view the complete 1 hour video which is posted on YouTube.

They touched on a number of issues, including the concept of defending oneself against “tyranny” as a justification at the time of enactment (they both agreed that historically it was a factor), and other aspects of 2nd Amendment law.

Towards the end of the program I asked about the recent NY gun law which outlaws possession of handguns which hold more than 7-round magazines, although current owners can keep the guns so long as they only put 7 bullets in the 10-round magazine.

Because of where the microphones were placed, my question is a little hard to hear. I asked about whether NY’s 7-round limit was constitutional given that it is lower than the 10-round magazines which widely are accepted as within the norm, even by many gun control advocates.

Gura answered:

“Well the 7-round limit to me is clearly unconstitutional, for the reasons mentioned, Americans have expectation to find in common use handguns that have more than 7-rounds, and so a 7-round limit is plainly unconstitutional.”

Related — “and then a roll of duct tape came out”



