United States v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms

Decided February 22, 1984. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 82-1047 · 465 U.S. 354 (1984) · Cited 720 times

Holding

A gun owner's acquittal on criminal charges involving firearms does not preclude a subsequent in rem forfeiture proceeding against those firearms under 924(d).

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“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.

• Helvering v. Mitchell · 303 U.S. 391 (1938)
• Coffey v. United States · 116 U.S. 436 (1886)
• Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez · 372 U.S. 144 (1963)
• United States v. Ward · 448 U.S. 242 (1980)
• One Lot Emerald Cut Stones and One Ring v. United States · 409 U.S. 232 (1972)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Calero-Toledo v. Pearson Yacht Leasing Co. · 416 U.S. 663 (1974)
• Huddleston v. United States · 415 U.S. 814 (1974)
• Rex Trailer Co. v. United States · 350 U.S. 148 (1956)
• Stone v. United States · 167 U.S. 178 (1897)
• Lewis v. Frick · 233 U.S. 291 (1914)

Cited by

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

• United States v. Ursery · 518 U.S. 267 (1996)
• Smith v. Doe · 538 U.S. 84 (2003)
• Dowling v. United States · 493 U.S. 342 (1990)
• Austin v. United States · 509 U.S. 602 (1993)
• Sedima, S. P. R. L. v. Imrex Co. · 473 U.S. 479 (1985)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• United States v. Watts · 519 U.S. 148 (1997)
• Smith v. United States · 508 U.S. 223 (1993)
• Hudson v. United States · 522 U.S. 93 (1997)
• United States v. Bajakajian · 524 U.S. 321 (1998)
• United States v. James Daniel Good Real Property · 510 U.S. 43 (1993)
• Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch · 511 U.S. 767 (1994)
• Bennis v. Michigan · 516 U.S. 442 (1996)
• Republic National Bank of Miami v. United States · 506 U.S. 80 (1992)

Official text

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

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Warren Earl Burger’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1984). 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).