With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the globe, even the Supreme Court has been hit. It has announced postponement of the next oral argument sitting, suggesting we may see some delays. The Court says it will still hold its scheduled conference this Friday and will still release orders next Monday. We’ll see if any news on gun cases comes out of the high court while we await a (hopeful) return to normalcy. In the meantime, no new updates on the Court’s gun docket, though one case I highlighted last week may be a candidate for a future cert petition.
As readers know, this weekly post highlights cases at the Supreme Court, but I also want to take an opportunity to highlight two resources I use to help keep track of the lower court litigation over firearm rights: the Gun Case Tracker by an extremely knowledgeable gun-rights advocate I know only as Rob (who tweets at @2Aupdates) and the Second Amendment Courtwatch by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Both resources provide very helpful information and updates about the status of important lower court challenges.
| 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 | Cert Denied |
| 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
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 10-Apr-20 |
| Rodriguez v. San Jose | 9th Cir. | 21-Feb-20 | Warrantless search and seizure of firearms under Second & Fourth Amendments | resp. due 26-Mar-20 |