SCOTUS Gun Watch – Week of 2/24/20
With the Court’s return from winter recess, we have a little more news than we’ve had in a few weeks. The Court, as expected, granted cert in Matsura to vacate the judgment below and remand in light of last Term’s decision in Rehaif v. United States, requiring the government to prove an individual knew his status that made him a prohibited person. (The Court also sent back two other cases in a similar posture as Matsura.) The Court also denied cert in Baker, challenging the reasonableness of a search in light of the Second Amendment.
Also, we have a new cert petition filed this week. In Rodriguez v. San Jose, the petitioner challenges the Ninth Circuit’s denial of her Second and Fourth Amendment claims arising from a warrantless seizure of her firearms after law enforcement took her husband into custody for a mental health evaluation.
| 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
21-Feb-20 conf. (relisted for 4th conference) |
| 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
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 | distributed
21-Feb-20 conf. |
| Matsura v. United States | 9th Cir. | 25-Oct-19 | Unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person | Cert Granted; vacated and remanded |
| Baker v. City of Trenton, MI | 6th Cir. | 26-Nov-19 | Reasonableness of warrantless search in light of the Second Amendment | Cert Denied |
| Wilson v. Cook County, IL | 7th Circ. | 27-Nov-19 | Assault weapons and high-capacity magazine ban | distributed for
6-Mar-20 conf. |
| Beers v. Barr | 3rd Cir. | 9-Jan-20 | Unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (involuntarily committed) | resp. due 11-Mar-20 |
| Rodriguez v. San Jose | 9th Cir. | 21-Feb-20 | Warrantless search and seizure of firearms under Second & Fourth Amendments | resp. due @ 24-Mar-20 |