Certain Gun Parts Do Not Fall Under Second Amendment Protections: Appeals Court Ruling
A court has determined that gun components such as suppressors are not protected under the Constitution.
According to a federal appeals court, certain components of firearms do not fall under the protection of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reviewed an appeal from a firearm dealer in Louisiana whose home was searched by federal agents, leading to charges when an unregistered suppressor, or silencer, was found.
“Silencers should be explicitly protected by the Second Amendment as they qualify as ‘arms’ (or accessories to arms),” he argued through his legal representation. “Even if they weren’t explicitly covered, silencers would still be encompassed within the implicit guarantee of the Second Amendment, as their use is essential for exercising the core right it safeguards—self-defense via firearm in one’s home.”
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The court referenced a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Heller, which indicated that the “arms” recognized in the Second Amendment are referred to as “weapons of offense or armor of defense.”
However, the appellate judges disagreed.
“A suppressor, in isolation, does not qualify as a weapon. Without being mounted on a firearm, it serves little function for self-defense. Moreover, unless a suppressor is thrown (which is certainly not how firearms operate), it cannot deliver any casting or striking,” Elrod commented, alluding to a previous ruling where a judge noted that a suppressor could theoretically be thrown like a shoe or baseball, neither of which are recognized as arms protected by the Second Amendment.
Elrod emphasized that in the Heller ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed that Second Amendment protections are not boundless, clarifying that “arms” refer to weapons.
This ruling marks the first from the Fifth Circuit on this matter, yet Elrod highlighted that it aligns with previous findings by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which has also concluded that suppressors are classified as firearm accessories rather than weapons.