Professor Jacob Charles Quoted in the Washington Examiner and the Guardian on Hunter Biden Gun Charges

Professor Jacob D. Charles is quoted in articles in the Washington Examiner and the Guardian regarding gun charges against Hunter Biden. 

The Washington Examiner article, titled "Legality of Hunter Biden Gun Charges Challenged by Supreme Court Bruen Ruling," considers Hunter Biden's indictment on charges stemming from a gun purchase in 2018, and the 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Bruen v. New York Rifle and Pistol Association, which has been used to scrutinize many federal firearm regulations.

Excerpt from  "Legality of Hunter Biden Gun Charges Challenged by Supreme Court Bruen Ruling"

Legal experts say prosecutors rarely, if ever, bring charges under the federal code Hunter Biden is accused of violating. In fiscal 2019, when Hunter Biden purchased his gun, federal prosecutors received 478 referrals for lying on Form 4473 but filed only 298 cases, the Washington Post reported in June last year, citing data from the U.S. attorneys’ case management system.

Jake Charles, an associate law professor at Duke Firearms Law, told the Washington Examiner he is more reserved about how Bruen would affect the charges over the Form 4473 violations because of a similar appeals court decision, noting the 7th Circuit has held that listing false street addresses is a "material representation" that violates federal code, according to a June 21 decision in a case known as U.S. v. Ladd.

"The way that Bruen might affect the case, I think it affects the third count and, maybe even through the third count, the first and second, but I'm not sure that affects the resolution of the first two counts independently," Charles said.

The Guardian article, titled "Republicans Want it Both Ways: Less Gun Control and Hunter Biden Gun Charges," considers how the law underlying one of the three gun charges against Hunter Biden is facing legal challenges after the Supreme Court's expansion of Second Amendment rights.

Excerpt from "Republicans Want it Both Ways: Less Gun Control and Hunter Biden Gun Charges"

“Other courts of appeals’ decisions are oftentimes persuasive to their sister circuits, especially on a case like this where there hasn’t been a lot of post-Bruen precedent,” said Jacob Charles, a professor at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law and a constitutional law scholar focusing on the second amendment.

The complete articles may be found at Washington Examiner and the Guardian