Quinn v. Texas
(opposing government use of “no knock” raids based on gun ownership)

admin Firearms Law

The Quinn case involves both the Second and Fourth Amendments, relating to a no-knock raid by the police.  Police executed a warrant to search John Quinn’s home, looking for drugs owned by his son who lived there.  Rather than honor the age-old practice of knocking on the door and announcing themselves, the police battered down Quinn’s door, shooting him when he understandably reached for his handgun to defend himself from what he thought was a burglary.  The police justified the no-knock raid solely because they believed that Quinn owned firearms.

Quinn filed a petition for certiorari from an adverse decision of a Texas appeals court.  CLDEF’s amicus curiae brief argued that the law cannot permit police to violate a person’s Fourth Amendment right to be secure in his home simply because he has chosen to exercise his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.  CLDEF’s brief chronicles how no-knock raids, formerly the exception to the knock-and-announce rule, have become the norm in the execution of search warrants in the United States.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for certiorari.

CLDEF Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Petition for Certiorari (January 27, 2014)

Supreme Court docket sheet