District of Columbia v. Heller

Decided June 26, 2008. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-290 · 554 U.S. 570 (2008) · Cited 3,086 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Miller · 307 U.S. 174 (1939)
• United States v. Cruikshank · 92 U.S. 542 (1876)
• Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC · 528 U.S. 377 (2000)
• Muscarello v. United States · 524 U.S. 125 (1998)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Houston v. Moore · 18 U.S. 1 (1820)
• United States v. Salerno · 481 U.S. 739 (1987)
• Lewis v. United States · 445 U.S. 55 (1980)
• Perpich v. Department of Defense · 496 U.S. 334 (1990)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority · 469 U.S. 528 (1985)
• Robertson v. Baldwin · 165 U.S. 275 (1897)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• Miranda v. Arizona · 384 U.S. 436 (1966)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
• Pickering v. Board of Ed. of Township High School Dist. 205, Will Cty. · 391 U.S. 563 (1968)
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority · 297 U.S. 288 (1936)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Brigham City v. Stuart · 547 U.S. 398 (2006)
• Heller v. Doe Ex Rel. Doe · 509 U.S. 312 (1993)
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. · 466 U.S. 485 (1984)
• Kyllo v. United States · 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
• City of Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc. · 475 U.S. 41 (1986)
• Whalen v. United States · 445 U.S. 684 (1980)
• Near v. Minnesota Ex Rel. Olson · 283 U.S. 697 (1931)
• New York v. Quarles · 467 U.S. 649 (1984)
• Smith v. United States · 508 U.S. 223 (1993)
• Burdick v. Takushi · 504 U.S. 428 (1992)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. City of New York · 590 U.S. 336 (2020)
• Voisine v. United States · 579 U.S. 686 (2016)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
• City of L. A. v. Patel · 576 U.S. 409 (2015)
• Heffernan v. City of Paterson · 578 U.S. 266 (2016)
• Comptroller of Treasury of Md. v. Wynne · 575 U.S. 542 (2015)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. · 556 U.S. 502 (2009)
• Carpenter v. United States · 585 U.S. 296 (2018)
• Messerschmidt v. Millender · 565 U.S. 535 (2012)
• Montejo v. Louisiana · 556 U.S. 778 (2009)
• Borden v. United States · 593 U.S. 420 (2021)
• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Assn. · 564 U.S. 786 (2011)
• Borough of Duryea v. Guarnieri · 564 U.S. 379 (2011)
• Torres v. Madrid · 592 U.S. 306 (2021)
• Bruesewitz v. Wyeth LLC · 562 U.S. 223 (2011)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Vartelas v. Holder · 566 U.S. 257 (2012)
• SEC v. Jarkesy · 603 U.S. 109 (2024)
• Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas · 596 U.S. 685 (2022)
• Smith v. United States · 599 U.S. 236 (2023)
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Assn. of America, Ltd. · 601 U.S. 416 (2024)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).