In a delicious twist of irony, UCLA law professor Adam Winkler—long a vocal critic of the Second Amendment and cheerleader for gun control—has accidentally handed gun rights advocates their biggest told you so moment since Bruen dropped in 2022. While penning a scathing critique of the Supreme Court’s landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, Winkler concedes that its text, history, and tradition test renders nearly all modern gun control measures unconstitutional. That’s right: the guy who’s spent decades arguing for reasonable restrictions on firearms now admits that assault weapon bans, magazine capacity limits, red flag laws, and even some licensing schemes don’t pass muster under the original public meaning of the right to keep and bear arms. It’s like watching a vegan accidentally endorse steak night—unintentional, but oh-so-satisfying.
Winkler’s slip-up isn’t just a footnote; it’s a seismic validation rooted in Bruen’s core holding that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry handguns publicly for self-defense, and any regulation must align with how 1791 Americans (or those in 1868 for the Fourteenth Amendment) would have understood it. He laments how this nukes sensitive places restrictions beyond what’s historically narrow (think legislative halls, not parks or stadiums), and exposes popular laws like California’s 10-round mag limit as ahistorical inventions. For context, pre-Bruen courts twisted themselves into pretzels with interest-balancing tests that let judges play God; now, with Bruen’s demanding standard, over 20 lower court rulings have struck down bans from Maryland to Illinois. Winkler’s critique unwittingly spotlights the scholarly rigor of Justices Thomas and Alito, whose historical deep-dive dismantled the post-Heller sophistry that gun rights stop at the home.
For the 2A community, this is rocket fuel: it exposes the intellectual bankruptcy of gun controllers who peddle common-sense laws without a shred of founding-era backing. Implications? Expect a cascade of wins as cases percolate to SCOTUS—think Rahimi’s narrowing of disarmament for domestic abusers, but broader victories on carry bans and standard-capacity mags. Gun owners should celebrate this as momentum builds toward restoring the Amendment’s full promise, while anti-gunners like Winkler scramble to rewrite history. Stay vigilant, stock up on ammo, and keep fighting—the Constitution is finally catching up to what we’ve known all along.
