Caetano v. Massachusetts

What the court held

Jaime Caetano was convicted under a Massachusetts statute banning possession of electrical weapons after she carried a stun gun for protection against an abusive ex-boyfriend, and the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upheld the ban on the ground that stun guns are not the kind of weapon the Second Amendment protects. In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court held that each of the state court's three rationales - that stun guns were not in common use when the Second Amendment was enacted, that they are "unusual" because they are a modern invention, and that they are not readily adaptable to military use - contradicts Heller. The Court granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded for further proceedings, without itself ruling on the statute's validity; Justice Alito, joined by Justice Thomas, concurred in the judgment and would have held the categorical ban unconstitutional outright.

Summarized from the court's opinion.

What this case is about

Whether the Second Amendment reaches stun guns and other arms not in existence at the founding

GunMapUSA summary of the issue, not a quotation from the court.

Key Dates

• 2016-03-21 — Decided

Sources

• CourtListener — retrieved 2026-08-09