Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 15
of weapons regulated by the NFA did not reasonably relate to the
preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia; therefore, the
NFA was upheld as constitutional.
UNITED STATES v. MILLER, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)
THE FACTS
Defendants, Miller and Layton, transported a double-barrel
12-gauge shotgun with a barrel length of less than 18 inches from
Oklahoma to Arkansas and were being prosecuted under the
National Firearms Act (which required certain types of firearms
to be registered and a tax to be paid). Defendants challenged the
NFA as an unconstitutional violation of the Second Amendment.
THE LEGAL HOLDING
Upheld the National Firearms Act as constitutional and not a
violation of the Second Amendment.
An interesting quirk of history in the Miller case (and not a shining
moment for the legal system) is that Miller’s attorney never
appeared at the arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court because
he was court-appointed and had not been paid. There was no written
brief and no legal representation at oral arguments by the party
arguing that the law was unconstitutional. The Court only heard
the government’s side. To make matters worse, Miller was shot to
death before the decision was rendered.
C. 69 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court interprets the
Second Amendment again: D.C. v. Heller
It would be 69 years after Miller until the U.S. Supreme Court
addressed the Second Amendment directly again, except this time,
the Court would hear both the government’s and the defendant’s
arguments. Fortunately, freedom and Second Amendment rights
4 | CHAPTER ONE
