Daniel L. Schmutter

Daniel L. Schmutter is an attorney licensed in New Jersey and New York with a focus on Civil Rights and Constitutional Law, including Second Amendment, First Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment issues.

Mr. Schmutter has submitted numerous briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States, the New Jersey Supreme Court, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, including in the landmark cases District of Columbia v. Heller, McDonald v. City of Chicago, Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.

Mr. Schmutter argued before the highest court in New York, the New York Court of Appeals, in the Second Amendment case Osterweil v. Bartlett, successfully challenging New York's unlawful ban on handgun possession by part time residents. He also argued before the New Hampshire Supreme Court, in Bach v. New Hampshire Department of Safety, successfully challenging New Hampshire’s unconstitutional home state carry permit requirement for non-resident New Hampshire permits.

Mr. Schmutter is currently counsel in the several Second Amendment cases challenging various unconstitutional aspects of New Jersey law: Siegel v. Platkin (handgun carry restrictions), Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, Inc. v. Platkin (magazine capacity restriction), and Ellman v. Platkin (ban on so-called “assault weapons”).

On First Amendment matters, he has represented major public interest organizations, such as Electronic Frontier Foundation and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), as well as cutting edge companies at the intersection of the First and Second Amendments such as Defense Distributed and Defcad, Inc.

He regularly lectures, is published in leading periodicals, and appears on radio and podcasts addressing numerous issues related to Second Amendment and constitutional law matters.

He has guest lectured on constitutional law to students in the United States and Europe and regularly lectures on theories of constitutional interpretation.

Mr. Schmutter earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and attended law school at The University of Virginia.