In an important Second Amendment decision that charts a course for evaluating the validity of gun laws after the U.S. Supreme Court declared the right to be an individual one, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to strike down a federal law that bans possession of guns with obliterated serial numbers, reports the Legal Intelligencer.

Judge Anthony Scirica’s opinion in U.S. v. Marzzarella says that courts faced with unanswered questions in the Second Amendment arena should consider looking to the extensive jurisprudence on First Amendment claims for guidance. “Serial number tracing serves a governmental interest in enabling law enforcement to gather vital information from recovered firearms,” Scirica wrote, “Because it assists law enforcement in this manner, we find its preservation is not only a substantial but a compelling interest.”