" />
The new year at the Supreme Court started the same as the last one ended: silence and anticipation. The new orders released this morning held no signs of action on NYSRPA and news that the Court did not act on the cert petitions in Guedes, which challenges the Trump Administration’s ban on bump stocks, or Worman, which challenges Massachusetts laws banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. It had just considered those cases for the first time at its conference last Friday.
Since it granted cert in NYSRPA, the Supreme Court has consistently held gun cases, at least those raising Second Amendment challenges. Notably, however, it denied cert in Medina, challenging the federal firearm prohibitor as applied to a man with an old, non-violent felony conviction. And now it has decided to hold (or at least not deny at the first chance), Guedes though it raises no Second Amendment challenge. Perhaps it wants to explore the administrative law questions at issue there—or maybe a denial will come soon.
This week also saw one new relevant cert petition filed—Beers v. Barr—raising an as-applied challenge to the federal law barring firearm possession for anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Powerhouse big law firm Sidley Austin, along with Sarah O’Rourke Schrup from the Northwestern Supreme Court practicum, represent the petitioner in the case. Given the Court’s treatment of Medina’s as-applied challenge, it may have less appetite for person-based challenges, but we will have to wait and see.
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
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
10-Jan-20 conf. |
Malpasso v. Pallozzi | 4th Cir. | 26-Sep-19 | MD “may issue” public carry regime | distributed for
24-Jan-20 conf. |
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. filed 27-Dec-19 |
Baker v. City of Trenton, MI | 6th Cir. | 26-Nov-19 | Reasonableness of warrantless search in light of the Second Amendment | resp. waived filed 17-Dec-19 |
Wilson v. Cook County, IL | 7th Circ. | 27-Nov-19 | Assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban | resp. due 3-Feb-20 |
Beers v. Barr | 3rd Cir. | 9-Jan-20 | Unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (involuntarily committed) | resp. due 10-Feb-20 |