Professor Jacob Charles Cited in United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Case, United States v. Harrison

Professor Jacob D. Charles is cited in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit case, United States of America v. Jared Michael Harrison. The case involves the possession of a firearm by a person who uses controlled substances, which violates 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3).

Excerpt from United States of America v. Jared Michael Harrison

“To be sure, the historical understanding that legislatures have discretion to prohibit possession of firearms by a category of persons . . . who pose an unacceptable risk of dangerousness may allow greater regulation than would an approach that employs means-end scrutiny with respect to each individual person who is regulated.” Jackson, 110 F.4th at 1129. But we agree with our sister circuits that this “result is a product of the method of constitutional interpretation endorsed by Bruen.” Id.; see Duarte, 137 F.4th at 762 (en banc) (same). Thus, without historical evidence that the Founders repudiated the principle behind disarming Catholics and loyalists, the district court could not assume they did. See Zherka, 2025 WL 1618440, at *20 (“The test that Bruen requires us to apply uses history as its guide, not policy concerns.”).23

____________________

23 We acknowledge the district court’s understandable reluctance to give credence to offensive laws. But Bruen instructs us to draw abstract principles from this history. That means we will sometimes feel tension between the inquiry Bruen requires and our other constitutional and human commitments. For better or worse, that is what Bruen requires. See generally Jacob D. Charles, On Sordid Sources in Second Amendment Litigation, 76 Stan. L. Rev. Online 30 (2023). 

The complete opinion may be found at United States of America v.  Jared Michael Harrison