District of Columbia v. Heller’s Empirical Analysis
554 U.S. 570 · 2008
Citation profile
773 federal appellate · 254 district · 1,029 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 3,187 later decisions (67 by the Supreme Court) — most recently June 2026 · most notably 135 S. Ct. 2551 - Johnson v. United States (2015), McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010)
773 federal appellate · 254 district · 1,029 state decisions — followed in 43 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Appellate journey
reviewedthe decision below (from District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Applies 18 U.S.C. § 922 (Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act) · 18 U.S.C. § 924
Relies on Miranda v. State of Arizona Vignera · Mathews v. Eldridge · New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · Pickering v. Board of Education of Township High School District 205 Will County Illinois · United States v. Salerno
Cited together with McDonald v. City of Chicago · United States v. Miller · United States v. Salerno · Staples v. United States · Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 3,187 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”
227 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
64 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“guarantee[s] the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.”
22 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.