There's been some debate recently about whether laws banning carrying weapons at political protests and demonstrations (either by the protests and demonstrators or others) are consistent with the Second Amendment. I thought I'd pass along what federal appellate judges have said about this recently.
[1.] From the Fourth Circuit just ten days ago in Kipke v. Moore, in a majority opinion by Judge Roger Gregory, joined by Chief Judge Albert Diaz:
Under Maryland law, a "person may not have a firearm in the person's possession or on or about the person at a demonstration in a public place or in a vehicle that is within 1,000 feet of a demonstration in a public place after: (i) the person has been advised by a law enforcement officer that a demonstration is occurring at the public place; and (ii) the person has been ordered by the law enforcement officer to leave the area of the demonstration until the person disposes of the firearm." … [W]e hold that Maryland's prohibition on carrying guns near public demonstrations is consistent with our national historical tradition of promoting peaceful assemblies, particularly given the interaction between the rights the First and Second Amendments preserve.
To start, the First Amendment protects "the right of the people peaceably to assemble." By including the "peaceably" caveat, the Founders made clear that not all assemblies are lawful, and that the government may constitutionally disperse assemblies that threaten the public peace. As the Supreme Court explained, "violence has no sanctuary in the First Amendment, and the use of weapons, gunpowder, and gasoline may not constitutionally masquerade under the guise of 'advocacy.'" So, we must read the right to bear arms in conjunction with the First Amendment's protection of the right to peaceably assemble. Though the right to bear arms surely is "not a second-class right," neither are the rights to free speech and free assembly.
Second, our history, both before and after the ratification of the Second Amendment, demonstrates a long-standing tradition of government regulating permissible assembles, including regulating arms at public assemblies. Beginning with the reign of King Edward IV in the fifteenth century, and subject to only minor alterations, "[t]he riotous assembling of twelve persons, or more, and not dispersing upon proclamation," was a criminal offense under English law up until the Revolution. As Blackstone concluded, "our ancient law … seems pretty well to have guarded against any violent breach of the public peace; especially as any riotous assembly on a public or general account …." The American colonies built on this tradition, enacting unlawful assembly statutes that ordered dispersal of assemblies, particularly where individuals were armed with weapons.
