SCOTUS Gun Watch – Week of 12/23/19
Another relatively quiet week on the Court’s gun docket. Two cases became fully briefed: Guedes which concerns the Trump Administration’s bump stock ban, and Worman, which concerns Massachusetts’s ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Guedes was distributed for conference in January, but Worman has not yet been scheduled for conference. (Lastly, I’ll just note that the responses in Matsura and Baker, are due on December 30 and January 2, respectively—barring any last minute extensions—so keep those lawyers drafting over the holidays in your thoughts. Similar timing for any potential reply brief in Malpasso. When I was in practice, I had a filing due December 28 one year and it was quite unpleasant.)
| Case | Ct. Below | Pet. Filed | Implicated Law/Issue | Status |
| Mance v. Barr | 5th Cir. | 19-Nov-18 | Federal ban on out-of-state handgun purchases | distributed
12-Apr-19 conf. |
| Rogers v. Grewal | 3rd Cir. | 20-Dec-18 | NJ “may issue” public carry regime | distributed
23-May-19 conf. |
| Pena v. Horan | 9th Cir. | 28-Dec-18 | California’s Unsafe Handgun Act (microstamping, etc.) | distributed
12-Apr-19 conf. |
| Gould v. Lipson | 1st Cir. | 1-Apr-19 | MA “may issue” public carry regime (as implemented locally) | distributed
6-June-19 conf. |
| Cheeseman v. Polillo | N.J. | 28-June-19 | NJ “may issue” public carry regime | distributed
18-Oct-19 conf. |
| Ciolek v. New Jersey | N.J. | 18-July-19 | NJ “may issue” public carry regime | distributed
1-Oct-19 conf. |
| Daniel v. Armslist | Wisc. | 29-July-19 | Scope of immunity for gun-broker website under Communications Decency Act | Cert Denied |
| Remington Arms v. Soto | Conn. | 1-Aug-19 | Scope of gunmaker immunity under the Protection for Lawful Commerce in Arms Act | Cert Denied |
| Guedes v. ATF | D.C. Cir. | 29-Aug-19 | Ban on bump stocks | distributed for 10-Jan-20 conf. |
| Medina v. Barr | D.C. Cir. | 30-Aug-19 | Ban on felon possession under 922(g)(1) (as applied) | Cert Denied |
| Worman v. Healey | 1st Cir. | 23-Sep-19 | Ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines | fully briefed; awaiting conf. |
| Malpasso v. Pallozzi | 4th Cir. | 26-Sep-19 | MD “may issue” public carry regime | reply due @ 1-Jan-20 |
| Pennsylvania v. Hicks | Penn. | 27-Sep-19 | How a firearm can factor into reasonable suspicion under the Fourth Amendment | Cert Denied |
| Culp v. Raoul | 7th Cir. | 10-Oct-19 | IL refusal to grant carry permits to most non-residents | resp. due 13-Jan-20 |
| Matsura v. United States | 9th Cir. | 25-Oct-19 | Unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person | resp. due 30-Dec-19 |
| Baker v. City of Trenton, MI | 6th Cir. | 26-Nov-19 | Reasonableness of warrantless search in light of the Second Amendment | resp. due 2-Jan-20 |
| Wilson v. Cook County, IL | 7th Circ. | 27-Nov-19 | Assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban | resp. due 3-Feb-20 |