SCOTUS Gun Watch – Week of 12/30/19
At the close of the year of the first Second Amendment cert grant in nearly a decade (setting Caetano aside), there are half a dozen petitions that have been discussed at conference and are awaiting the Court’s resolution of NYSRPA. That resolution could come next week, or it could take another 6 months. But one thing seems clear: with the new composition of the Supreme Court, the justices appear eager to more actively police the boundaries of the Second Amendment and advocates seem to have received the message.
Two cases are already up for discussion at conference in early January, Guedes and Worman. The former should not need to wait on NYSRPA for resolution, but I suspect the latter will be held. The next year is setting up to be another one where the Court could have a major impact on how the government can regulate firearms.
| 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 | distributed for 10-Jan-20 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 |