“Stephen Halbrook is an attorney with extensive knowledge of the historical underpinnings of the Second Amendment and practical knowledge of litigating in this rapidly evolving area of law. His writings include topics as diverse as Gun Control in the Third Reich and The Founders’ Second Amendment, and he was heavily involved in Heller and McDonald.”

– U.S. District Judge Michael J. Reagan
Shepard v. Madigan, 2014 WL 4825592, *7 (S.D. Ill. 2014)

Cases Argued

• Castillo v. United States (2000)
• Printz v. United States (1997)
• U.S. v. Thompson/Center Arms Co. (1992)

On Brief

• Viramontes v. Cook County
• LaFave v. Fairfax County
• Wolford v. Lopez
• Garland v. VanDerStok
• Rahimi
• NYSRPA v. Bruen
• NRA v. Chicago
• Heller
• Henderson
• Millender
• Williams v. Maryland
• Norman v. Florida
• NYSRPA v. City of NY
• Worman v. Maura Healey

• Comments on ATF 2022R-17, “Definition of ‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms”
• Comments on ATF 2021R-08, “Pistol Stabilizing Braces”
• Comments on ATF 2021R-05, “Frame or Receiver”

Gun Control Act/National Firearms Act

• Firearm technical classifications
• ATF regulatory compliance
• FFL warning conferences, license denials,
  and revocations
• Forfeitures
• Legal disabilities and restoration of civil rights
• Criminal defense

State and Local Laws

• “Assault weapon” restrictions
• Legal status of firearms
• Challenging restrictions

Civil and Criminal Cases Litigated >>

• FOIA-Request-Response
• Transcript-Hearing-GCA-Regs-11-21-68
• SAAMI-Statements

“How a Fake Citation Misled Courts to Uphold ‘Sensitive Place’ Gun Bans,” 2 Journal of Law & Civil Governance at Texas A&M 433 (2026).

“Birthright Citizenship Requires Parental Allegiance to the United States: The Meaning of ‘Subject to Its Jurisdiction’ in the Fourteenth Amendment” (October 27, 2025).

“The Power to Tax, the Second Amendment, and the Search for Which ‘“Gangster” Weapons’ to Tax,” 25 Wyoming Law Review No. 1 149 (2025) (Special Issue: The National Firearms Act).

“Textualism, the Gun Control Act, and ATF’s Redefinition of ‘Firearm’,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Per Curiam No. 32, (Summer 2024).

“Text-and-History or Means-End Scrutiny? A Response to Professor Nelson Lund’s Critique of Bruen,” 24 Federalist Society Review, (Mar. 15, 2023).

“The Second Amendment Was Adopted to Protect Liberty, Not Slavery: A Reply to Professors Bogus and Anderson,” 20 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 575 (2022).

“Право народа на хранение и ношение оружия: вторая поправка билля о правах сша” [“The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms: the Second Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights”], 2 Ukrainian Law Journal “Law of the USA” (2013), 240-50.

“The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms: the Second Amendment in the U.S. Bill of Rights,” 2 Ukrainian Law Journal “Law of the USA” (2013), 240-50.

“Banning America’s Rifle: An Assault on the Second Amendment?,” 22 Federalist Society Review (June 28, 2021).

“Virginia’s Second Amendment Sanctuaries: Do They Have Legal Effect?,” Regent University Law Review, No. 2, 277 (2020-2021).

View More Scholarly Articles >>

Huge NFA Victory Breakdown with Stephen Halbrook – Four Boxes Diner (Aug. 18, 2026)

Stephen Halbrook on How the American Revolution Had a Lot to Do with Gun Control – NRA, “Voices of the Second Amendment (Atlanta),” (Jun. 8, 2025)

Courthouse Steps Oral Argument: Garland v. Cargill – The Federalist Society, (Mar. 5, 2024)

Attorney Stephen Halbrook Discusses the Upcoming Supreme Court Case Garland v. Cargill on Whether Bump Stocks Are Machine Guns – The Federalist Society, “A Seat at the Sitting: The February Docket” (Feb. 15, 2024)

Attorney Stephen Halbrook Talks SCOTUS Re: Biden “Ghost Gun” and “Weapons Part Kits” – Four Boxes Diner (Aug. 13, 2023)

The Case for the AR15 – The Republican Professor (Aug. 1, 2023)

Attorney Stephen Halbrook Breaks Down Current Pistol Brace Fight – Four Boxes Diner (May 22, 2023)

A Year After Bruen, and This Is Happening? – America’s First Freedom (May 20, 2023)

ATF OVERREACH: Stephen Halbrook on How ATF Rules DO NOT = LAW; Defeating the ATF in Court – The Dana Show with Dana Loesch (Mar. 28, 2023)

View More Presentations >>