This Article describes the process for deciding Second Amendment cases, as set forth by the Circuits of the United States Courts of Appeals. The focus of the Article is how the circuit courts analyze Second Amendment cases. In the eight years since the Supreme Court decided District of Columbia v. Heller,  the  circuit  courts  have  collectively  worked  out  a  Second  Amendment methodology. Although there are differences among the circuits, and sometimes  among  panels  within  the  same  circuit,  the  methodology  described  

below has become standard, albeit not universal.

We have examined every post-Heller circuit case, including the unpublished ones. The cases are listed in the Appendix by circuit. We occasionally  cite  state  court  and  federal district  court  cases  that  are  especially illuminating.

Part I summarizes the key legal rules from Heller. Part II does the same for McDonald  v.  Chicago,  which  holds  that  the  Second  Amendment  right  is enforceable  against  the  states.  

Part  III  enumerates  the  various  rights  that  are  included within the Second Amendment, in addition to the home defense right which was at issue in Heller.

Part IV explicates the Two-Part Test nearly every circuit  has  adopted  for  analyzing  Second  Amendment  issues.  Part  V  explains how the circuits have wrestled with Heller’s ambiguous language about certain “presumptively lawful” gun controls, and how that language has been applied to the Two-Part Test.

Part VI examines in detail the application of Step One of the Two-Part Test—namely, whether something is part of the Second Amendment right as traditionally understood. Part VII summarizes the different  ways  courts  have  treated  the  Second  Amendment  outside  the  home,  such  as  whether  bearing  arms  in  public  places  passes  or  fails  Step  One.  

Part VIII  examines  the  first  decision  that  must  be  made  under  Step  Two  of  the Two-Part  Test:  which  level  of  heightened  scrutiny  to  use.  

Part  IX  describes how  various  levels  of  heightened  scrutiny  are  applied  in  Second  Amendment  cases.  Among  the  topics  is  how  consideration  of  alternative  measures  (which  infringe less of the right) is less stringent in intermediate scrutiny. In conclusion, Part X summarizes all the elements of the  Circuit Courts’ Second Amendment doctrines.