Neha Patil (Editor)

United States v. Freed

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Concurrence
  
Brennan

Date
  
1971

Full case name
  
United States v. Freed, et al. 401 U.S. 601 (1971)

Citations
  
401 U.S. 601 (more) 91 S. Ct. 1112; 28 L. Ed. 2d 356; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 57

Majority
  
Douglas, joined by Burger, Black, Harlan, Stewart, White, Marshall, and Blackmun

United States v. Freed, 401 U.S. 601 (1971), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held the National Firearms Act's registration requirements do not violate the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Additionally, the Court held that the Act's restrictions against a person's "receiv[ing] or possess[ing] a firearm which is not registered to him," did not require the recipient to have the specific intent to possess an unregistered firearm. Consequently, the Court ruled that the buyer of unregistered hand grenades was subject to criminal liability, despite a lack of a requirement that the defendant have had a "specific intent or knowledge that the hand grenades were unregistered."

Decision of the Court

The Court concluded, "This is a regulatory measure in the interest of the public safety, which may well be premised on the theory that one would hardly be surprised to learn that possession of hand grenades is not an innocent act."

References

United States v. Freed Wikipedia