Jackson v. City & Cnty. of San Francisco

When governmental action does not create a substantial burden on Second Amendment rights, intermediate scrutiny may be applied in determining the constitutionality of regulations that limit the sale of hollow-point ammunition and requiring safe storage of firearms when not being carried on the person.

Espanola Jackson and others who were plaintiffs in this action brought suit against the City and County of San Francisco challenging the constitutionality of Police Code sections 4512 and 613.10(g) under the Second Amendment. Jackson filed a motion for preliminary injunction, which was denied by the district court. On appeal Jackson argues that the district court was wrong to deny her preliminary injunction because both sections of the Police Code violate her Second Amendment Rights. The Ninth Circuit held that when a government action does not create a substantial burden on Second Amendment rights, such as here when the regulation at issue allows for other channels of self-defense, intermediate scrutiny may be applied. Applying intermediate scrutiny to the challenged statutes, the court found Police Code section 4512 constitutional. Section 4512 is constitutional under the Second Amendment because while it does impose a burden on core Second Amendment rights, it does not create a substantial burden in that the regulation does not prevent an individual from possessing a firearm in the home while still allowing San Francisco’s interest be met in lowering firearm-related deaths. Section 613.10(g) was upheld as constitutional in that it does not regulate conduct that falls within the purview of the Second Amendment nor creates a burden on those rights, and the section reasonably allows San Francisco to meet its goal of dropping the lethality of ammunition. AFFIRMED.