The Expansive ‘Sensitive Places’ Doctrine: The Limited Right to ‘Keep and Bear’ Arms Outside the Home

Abstract

In Bruen, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s “may-issue” licensing regime, recognized the right to carry arms outside the home, and announced the historical analogue method to analyze modern gun laws. In doing so, the Court did not disavow the ‘sensitive places’ doctrine announced in Heller.

In response, New York and other states enacted gun safety laws on the basis of location. This Article provides an account of the doctrinal and historical support for such regulations, proposes a list of locations where gun regulations will survive constitutional scrutiny, and offers a theory of gravitational pull whereby the places around ‘sensitive places’ become sensitive by virtue of their proximity to the core ‘sensitive place.’

Keywords: sensitive places, Second Amendment, right to bear arms, District of Columbia v. Heller, Bruen, presumptively lawful