On August 27, the Fourth Circuit decided LaFave v. County of Fairfax, Virginia, a challenge to a ban on possession of a firearm in the public parks of the County. The opinion by Chief Judge Diaz avoided reaching the merits because it concluded that plaintiffs could not succeed in their facial challenge. (Disclosure: I represented the LaFave plaintiffs-appellants in the case.)
While not mentioned in the opinion, the parks consist of 23,584 acres of mostly wooded land with 334 miles of trails, which is over 9.3 percent of the land mass of the County. By comparison, the borough of Manhattan, which the Bruen court held does not qualify as a "sensitive place," is only 14,502 acres of densely-populated land.
The LaFave opinion began with recitations from the Bruen decision, including that the Second Amendment protects the "right to bear arms in public for self-defense." More precisely:
