1971
– 2008 successfully argued District of Columbia v. Heller before the United States Supreme Court
– successfully argued McDonald v. Chicago.before the United States Supreme Court
– born in Israel
– came to the United States when he was 7 with his family
About Alan Gura
Alan Gura is the attorney who argued and won the two Supreme Court cases that define the modern Second Amendment. Born in Israel, he moved with his family to Los Angeles at age seven, earned a BA from Cornell University in 1992 and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. Early in his career he clerked for U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, served as a California deputy attorney general, practiced at Sidley & Austin, and was counsel to a U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee before founding his own firm, Gura & Possessky (later Gura P.L.L.C.).
As lead counsel for Dick Heller, with co-counsel Robert Levy and Clark Neily, Gura argued District of Columbia v. Heller on March 18, 2008. On June 26, 2008, the Court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, striking down the District’s handgun ban. Working with the Second Amendment Foundation, he then brought McDonald v. Chicago, decided June 28, 2010, which applied that right to state and local governments. Legal Times named him to its “40 Under 40” in 2009, and the National Law Journal listed him among the 100 most influential lawyers in America in 2013. In February 2021 he became vice president for litigation at the Institute for Free Speech.
Key Facts
- 1995: JD, Georgetown University Law Center
- March 18, 2008: Argues District of Columbia v. Heller
- June 26, 2008: Heller decided 5-4 for an individual right
- June 28, 2010: McDonald v. Chicago applies the Second Amendment to the states
- 2013: Named one of the 100 most influential lawyers by the National Law Journal
- February 2021: Joins the Institute for Free Speech as vice president for litigation
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Sources
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