The closure of “non-essential” businesses in response to the spread of Covid-19 raises a host of difficult legal questions. Among those questions, of course, are some involving right to keep and bear arms. Put simply: Does the Second Amendment permit gun stores be temporarily closed?

Some advocates and commentators have suggested that this is an easy question with a straightforward answer—temporarily closing gun stores is a per se unconstitutional infringement of the right to keep and bear arms, tantamount to a “suspension” of the Second Amendment (or perhaps a “ban”). But that kind of categorical conclusion belies the genuinely complex and interesting constitutional questions that such closures raise. Consider at least three.

Earlier this week, I wrote about Second Amendment concerns that arise with emergency declarations that shut down non-essential businesses, including, in some states, gun stores. Showing how quickly these issues are moving, in the past few days there have already been changes in states and localities that have excluded guns from the list of essential businesses. For example, even after winning the lawsuit that kept gun stores shuttered, Pennsylvania modified its closure order: “Firearms dealers may now sell their wares by individual appointment during limited hours as long as they comply with social distancing guidelines and take other measures to protect employees and customers from the coronavirus.” In Los Angeles County, the sheriff declared that gun stores “are nonessential businesses and will have to close their doors amid coronavirus restrictions.” But just hours later, the county attorney concluded that such businesses are essential, presumably halting enforcement of the sheriff’s declaration.

It’s fair to say there’s confusion on the ground as state and local resources, including law enforcement resources, are stretched thin and public officials scramble for the best way to protect the public amidst a global crisis. New Jersey, as of this writing, is still defending its exclusion of gun stores as essential business. In my own backyard, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office has said it will “suspend pistol and concealed-carry permit applications until April 30 as demand surges amid the coronavirus outbreak.”

The rest of this post will focus on a different issue that arises in emergencies—orders that directly regulate firearm possession or carrying.

The recent spate of emergency declarations across the country has raised some difficult Second Amendment questions. In some states, governors have required all “non-essential” or “non-life sustaining” businesses to close up altogether or to at least close the inside of the store to customers (while still permitting, e.g., curbside pick-up). These laws can raise constitutional concerns when applied to gun stores. Of course, the government’s interest is at its zenith in emergency situations, and the state’s broad police powers can alter the calculus that gets applied in calmer times. For example, individuals have a constitutional right to peaceably assemble in groups of more than ten people, but when public health requires keeping such groups smaller for a temporary period of time, does the First Amendment still bar such an order? We could similarly ask whether the Second Amendment poses a hurdle to temporary measures to protect the public health in times of emergencies by shutting down gun stores.