SCOTUS Gun Watch - Week of 10/16/23
Vullo was redistributed for consideration at last Friday's conference, but the Court did not issue an order in the case this morning. In Rahimi, Rahimi's attorneys filed a "proposal to lodge" with the Court on October 6. No further information is available on the Supreme Court docket, but the request likely relates to non-record information or documents that Rahimi would like the Court to consider.
The government filed a petition for certiorari in Range on October 5, after previously requesting and receiving an extension of the deadline to seek cert (we covered the Third Circuit's en banc decision in Range here.) The petition notes that Range is now part of a circuit split (the Eighth and Tenth Circuits have upheld 922(g)(1) and rejected felony-by-felony adjudication of dangerousness), argues that the Supreme Court expressly incorporated approval of the felon prohibitor into its substantive holding in Heller, asserts that felons are not within "the people" protected by the Second Amendment, and argues that there is a historical tradition of disarming non-law-abiding individuals. The petition also asserts that "[s]tates have long denied convicts the right to vote, the right to serve on juries, and the right to hold public office," without any allowance for as-applied challenges to those prohibitions. However, the government asks the Court to "hold the petition . . . pending its decision Rahimi" because the two cases substantially overlap and "raise[] similar methodological questions about how to apply the historical test set forth in Bruen." The government also suggests that other cases currently pending at the circuit level may present better vehicles for the Court to consider the constitutionality of 922(g)(1).
Also on October 5, the government filed a cert petition in Daniels – where a unanimous Fifth Circuit panel struck down the federal ban on unlawful users of controlled substances possessing firearms as applied to a habitual marijuana user, in a decision we covered here. The petition in Daniels emphasizes that, under the Fifth Circuit's reasoning, most if not all applications of the statute will be unconstitutional. The government argues that drug users are not law-abiding and responsible citizens, emphasizes connections between drug use and other criminal conduct (which the government says "extend[] beyond the risk that [an individual] will mishandle firearms while under the influence of the drug"), and asserts that the Fifth Circuit did not conduct the "more nuanced" analogical inquiry required by Bruen. As in Range, the government asks the Court to hold the petition pending Rahimi – in part because the panel in Daniels relied on the Fifth Circuit's decision in Rahimi to strike down 922(g)(3).
In both the Range and Rahimi petitions, the government strongly implies that more petitions in cases challenging status-based federal firearm disqualifications will likely be filed this Term (pending outcomes at the appellate level).
Petitions Granted and Pending Argument
|
Case |
Ct. Below |
Pet. Filed |
Implicated Law/Issue |
Status |
|
(22-915) |
5th Cir. |
17-Mar-2023 |
Facial challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8) – which prohibits those subject to certain domestic-violence restraining orders from possessing firearms during the duration of the order – under the Second Amendment. |
Respondent's opposition brief filed 27-Sep-2023; Petitioner's reply brief due 27-Oct-2023; Argument set for 7-Nov-2023 |
Petitions Pending
|
Case |
Ct. Below |
Pet. Filed |
Implicated Law/Issue |
Status |
|
(23-376) |
5th Cir. |
5-Oct-2023 |
As-applied challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) – which prohibits those who are "unlawful user[s] of or addicted to any controlled substance" from possessing firearms – under the Second Amendment. |
Response due 9-Nov-2023 |
|
(23-274) |
3d Cir. |
5-Oct-2023 |
As-applied challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) – which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms – under the Second Amendment. |
Response due 9-Nov-2023 |
|
(23-62) |
6th Cir. |
21-July-2023 |
Whether a bump stock device constitutes a "machinegun" as defined by federal legislation, and whether ATF acted outside of its statutory authorization in subjecting bump stocks to heightened regulation under the NFA. |
Distributed for conference 27-Oct-2023 |
|
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (22-1222) |
D.C. Cir. |
14-June-2023 |
Whether a bump stock device constitutes a "machinegun" as defined by federal legislation, and whether ATF acted outside of its statutory authorization in subjecting bump stocks to heightened regulation under the NFA. |
Distributed for conference 27-Oct-2023 |
|
The National Rifle Association of America (22-842) |
2d Cir. |
7-Feb-2023 |
First Amendment challenge by the NRA to state government guidance and press urging banks and insurance companies to consider the reputational risks of doing business with gun-rights organizations. |
Distributed for conference 13-Oct-2023 |
|
(22-976) |
5th Cir. |
6-Apr-2023 |
Whether a bump stock device constitutes a "machinegun" as defined by federal legislation, and whether ATF acted outside of its statutory authorization in subjecting bump stocks to heightened regulation under the NFA. |
Distributed for conference 27-Oct-2023 |
Petitions Disposed
|
Case |
Ct. Below |
Pet. Filed |
Implicated Law/Issue |
Status |
|
Kyung Chang Industry USA, Inc. Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada, et al. (22-1206) |
Nevada Supreme Court |
9-June-2023 |
Request for interlocutory relief in case involving whether a magazine is a "component part of a firearm" under PLCAA. |
Cert Denied 2-Oct-2023 |
|
(23A82) |
5th Cir. |
27-July-2023 |
Application for stay of district court judgment invalidating ATF "ghost gun" rule while appeal to the Fifth Circuit is pending. |
Stay granted 8-Aug-2023 |
|
(22-6853) |
5th Cir. |
21-Feb-2023 |
As-applied commerce clause challenge to 922(g)(1). |
Denied 26-June-2023 |
|
(22-49) |
2d Cir. |
15-July-2022 |
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(D)(ii) requires consecutive sentences be imposed for a defendant convicted and sentenced under 924(j). |
Decided 16-June 2023 |
|
(22A948 - emergency application) |
7th Cir. |
26-Apr-2023 |
Emergency application for injunction of Illinois assault weapons and LCM ban pending appeal of district court order upholding the law. |
Denied 17-May-2023 |
|
(22-622) |
2d Cir. |
4-Jan-2023 |
Second Amendment, Fifth Amendment, and vagueness challenge by New York firearms dealers to state regulations on the commercial sale of firearms. |
Cert Denied 24-Apr-2023 |
|
(22-806) |
1st Cir. |
17-Feb-2023 |
Whether the Massachusetts state crime of straight assault becomes a violent felony that satisfies the ACCA's force requirement because it was committed with a dangerous weapon. |
Cert Denied 27-Mar 2023 |
|
(22-586) |
6th Cir. |
21-Dec-2022 |
Mootness of challenge to Michigan COVID-19 restrictions, including Second Amendment challenge to order closing gun stores |
Cert Denied 27-Feb-2023 |
|
(22A591 - emergency application) |
2d Cir. |
29-Dec-2022 |
Application to reverse district court order denying preliminary injunction and enter administrative stay (NY commercial gun regulations) |
Denied 18-Jan-2023 |
|
(22-478) |
3d Cir. |
13-May-2022 |
Challenge to NJ extreme-risk-protection law under Fourth Amendment / Younger abstention |
Cert Denied 17-Jan-2023 |
|
(22A557 - emergency application) |
2d Cir. |
21-Dec-2022 |
Application to lift stay of district court preliminary injunction pending appeal (NY post-Bruen gun law) |
Denied 11-Jan-2023; Justice Alito issued a separate statement (joined by Justice Thomas) |
|
City of New York License Division of the NYPD (21-1495) |
NY App. Ct. |
10-May-2022 |
Challenge to NYC gun license denial |
Cert Denied 5-Dec-2022 |
|
McCutchen, et al.; The Modern Sportsman, et al. (22-25) |
Fed Cir. |
8-July-2022 |
Challenge to ATF bump stock ban under 5th Amendment takings clause |
Cert Denied 14-Nov-2022 |
|
Md. Ct. App. |
13-Oct-2022 |
Challenge to Maryland jury instructions for possessing firearm after conviction for a crime of violence |
Cert Denied 14-Nov-2022 |
|
|
(21-1522) |
2d Cir. |
31-May-2022 |
Challenge to warrantless home entry to seize firearms |
Cert Denied 14-Nov-2022 |
|
(22-76) |
8th Cir. |
26-July-2022 |
As-applied challenge to 922(g)(3) and definition of "unlawful user of . . . any controlled substance" |
Cert Denied 31-Oct-2022 |
|
District of Columbia Concealed Pistol Licensing Review Board (21-1545) |
D.C. Ct. App. |
7-Jun-2022 |
Challenge to DC gun license revocation standard |
Cert Denied 3-Oct-2022 |
|
Gun Owners of America v. Garland (21-1215) |
6th Cir. |
3-Mar-2022 |
Challenge to the bump stock ban |
Cert Denied 3-Oct-2022 |
|
(21-1160) |
1st Cir. |
13-Dec-2022 |
Challenge to Massachusetts’ bar on handgun purchases for those with nonviolent misdemeanors |
Granted, vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Bruen 3-Oct-2022 |
|
(21-159) |
10th Cir. |
2-Aug-2021 |
Challenge to agency deference re the bump stock ban |
Cert Denied 3-Oct-2022 |
|
(21-1194) |
9th Cir. |
28-Feb-2022 |
Challenge to California ban on magazines holding 10 rounds or more |
Granted, vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Bruen 30-June 2022 |
|
(21-902) |
4th Cir. |
16-Dec-2021 |
Challenge to Maryland’s assault weapons ban and to the methodology used for 2A questions |
Granted, vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Bruen 30-June 2022 |
|
(20-1639) |
9th Cir. |
11-May-21 |
Challenge to Hawaii’s restrictive open carry law |
Granted, vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Bruen 30-June 2022 |
|
Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Bruck (20-1507) |
3d Cir. |
26-Apr-21 |
Challenge to New Jersey ban on magazines holding 10 rounds or more |
Granted, vacated and remanded for further consideration in light of Bruen 30-June 2022 |
|
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (20-843) |
2d Cir. |
17-Dec-20 |
Challenge to New York’s good cause public carry regime |
Decided 23-June-2022 |