NCJ Number
108276
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 49 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1986) Pages: 163-198
Date Published
1986
Length
36 pages
Annotation
In focusing on U.S. Supreme Court cases interpreting the Gun Control Act of 1968, this article demonstrates the utility of the rule of strict construction of firearms offenses in favor of the defendant so as to limit overzealous law enforcement.
Abstract
After generally explaining the rule of strict construction and its function as a limit on arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, the article describes the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the first three Supreme Court decisions interpreting the act. An examination of the lower Federal courts' subsequent use of these decisions shows some of the costs of the Court's failure to impose adequate limits on law enforcement. In the three cases, the Court faced fourth and fifth amendment issues as well as construction questions regarding act and mental requirements. In both contexts, the Court's resolution of these matters ranged from restrictive to permissive. Although the Court recognized the relevance of limiting overzealous law enforcement in its applications of the fourth and fifth amendments, it was apparently unaware that the regulative concerns of enforcement should have informed its statutory constructions as well. 309 footnotes.