SCOTUS Gun Watch - Week of 9/30/24
The justices will gather today for their annual Long Conference, which marks the start of the October 2024 Supreme Court Term. They will sift through the pile of cert petitions filed over the summer, including several notable Second Amendment and firearm-related petitions.
While most of the Second Amendment petitions distributed for today's conference are 922(g)(1) cases where criminal defendants have challenged the federal ban on felons possessing guns, these are not especially high-profile challenges. I expect the Court to wait for further development at the appellate level as to that specific issue and for some of the cases that were GVR-ed post Rahimi, including Range, to make their way back to the Court. Rather, the primary petitions to watch this week are:
- Smith & Wesson v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, where the First Circuit allowed claims by the government of Mexico against U.S. gun manufacturers to proceed under an exception to the liability shield in the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA.
- Wilson v. Hawaii, where the Hawaii Supreme Court upheld a conviction for unlicensed carry while also construing the state's constitutional protection of the right to keep and bear arms as limited to the militia context (we covered that decision here).
- Maryland Shall Issue v. Anne Arundel County, a First Amendment challenge to a local ordinance requiring gun stores to display and distribute suicide-prevention and conflict-resolution literature which the Fourth Circuit rejected.
- Cassidy v. Massachusetts, a case from Massachusetts involving the state's approach to public carry licensing and weapons possession for non-residents (the Massachusetts Supreme Court did not weigh in on Cassidy but did recently hear argument in a pair of cases involving New Hampshire residents convicted for unlicensed carry in Massachusetts).
None of these cases, however, present a particularly high likelihood of a cert grant—especially compared to Snope v. Brown, the challenge to Maryland's assault weapons and large-capacity magazine ban that is still in cert-stage briefing. On September 23, 10 amicus briefs were filed in Snope in support of the petitioners.
In other news, on September 26 the federal government filed memoranda in a number of 922(g)(1) cases decided pre-Rahimi asking the Court to grant the petitions, vacate the lower court rulings, and remand the cases for further review in light of Rahimi.
Petitions Granted and Pending Argument
Case |
Ct. Below |
Pet. Filed |
Implicated Law/Issue |
Status |
(23-852) |
5th Cir. |
7-Feb-2024 |
Administrative law challenge to ATF "ghost gun" rule, which provides that certain products that can readily be converted into an operational firearm or a functional frame or receiver fall within the GCA's defintion of a "firearm" and may be regulated accordingly. |
Oral argument set for 8-Oct-24 |
Petitions Pending
Case |
Ct. Below |
Pet. Filed |
Implicated Law/Issue |
Status |
(24-5576) |
5th Cir. |
17-Sep-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-309) |
3d Cir. |
16-Sep-24 |
Whether the infringement of the Second Amendment constitutes per se irreparable injury sufficient to support a preliminary injunction (in the context of Delaware's ban on certain semiautomatic rifles and large-capacity magazines). |
Response due 18-Oct-24 |
(24-5560) |
5th Cir. |
16-Sep-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-5540) |
8th Cir. |
11-Sep-24 |
Whether the possession of a firearm in an open-carry state is sufficient to justify a warrantless seizure under the Fourth Amendment. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-5507) |
5th Cir. |
6-Sep-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-5506) |
9th Cir. |
6-Sep-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8)(C)(ii), which prohibits those subject to certain domestic-violence restraining orders from possessing guns based on the terms of the underlying restraining order without a credible-threat finding. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-5488) |
10th Cir. |
5-Sep-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-5479) |
5th Cir. |
4-Sep-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response waived 27-Sep-24 |
(24-5482) |
5th Cir. |
30-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-5453) |
11th Cir. |
30-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-5406) |
8th Cir. |
22-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms, and § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9), which prohibits domestic-violence misdemeanants from possessing firearms. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-5404) |
8th Cir. |
22-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), which prohibits unlawful drug users from possessing guns, both facially and as-applied to marijuana users; temporal nexus between drug use and gun possession. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5391) |
4th Cir. |
22-Aug-24 |
Facial Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-203) |
4th Cir. |
21-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to Maryland ban on certain semiautomatic rifles; what weapons receive Second Amendment protection. |
Response due 23-Oct-24 |
(24-5393) |
5th Cir. |
21-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5392) |
9th Cir. |
21-Aug-24 |
Impact of Rahimi on a Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5376) |
5th Cir. |
20-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-178) |
6th Cir. |
16-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to municipal zoning rules that prohibition construction of an outdoor firing range; Second Amendment protection for the right to train with commonly-possessed firearms. |
Response due 21-Oct-24 |
(24-5328) |
8th Cir. |
13-Aug-24 |
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms, is invariably constitutional both facially and as applied to any defendant, no matter the case-specific circumstances. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-5315) |
11th Cir. |
7-Aug-24 |
Facial and as-applied Second Amendment and challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-5298) |
10th Cir. |
7-Aug-24 |
Facial and as-applied Second Amendment and challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5261) |
5th Cir. |
5-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5258) |
10th Cir. |
5-Aug-24 |
Facial and as-applied Second Amendment and challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-131) |
1st Cir. |
2-Aug-24 |
Whether a state may ban large-capacity magazines consistent with the Second Amendment. |
Response due 5-Nov-24 |
(24-5229) |
5th Cir. |
1-Aug-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-120) |
11th Cir. |
29-July-24 |
Whether certain items (inline fuel filters and firearms solvent traps) capable of muffling or silencing the sound of a firearm discharge fall within the NFA's silencer ban or are protected by the Second Amendment. |
Response due 4-Nov-24 |
(24-5194) |
5th Cir. |
26-July-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Response requested, due 21-Oct-24 |
Paris, Commissioner, Pennsylvania State Police (24-93) |
3d Cir. |
25-July-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to state laws that restrict the rights of 18-to-20-year-olds to carry guns in public. |
Distributed for conference 11-Oct-24 |
(24-5126) |
2d Cir. |
19-July-24 |
As-applied Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-101) |
Mass. Appeals Court |
17-July-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to Massachusetts' firearm licensing system and assault weapons ban, as applied to a new state resident who transports guns purchased out-of-state into Massachusetts. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5112) |
5th Cir. |
16-July-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5103) |
5th Cir. |
15-July-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5101) |
5th Cir. |
15-July-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5087) |
5th Cir. |
11-July-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-37) |
11th Cir. |
10-July-24 |
Whether a criminal defendant may raise an as-applied Second Amendment challenge to 18 U.S.C. |
Response requesting GVR in light of Rahimi filed 26-Sep-24 |
(24-5043) |
5th Cir. |
3-July-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to §§ 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(9) and (n), which prohibit domestic-violence misdemeanants and those under felony indictment, respectively, from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(24-5007) |
5th Cir. |
1-July-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7776) |
10th Cir. |
18-June-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7804) |
5th Cir. |
14-Jun-24 |
Post-Bruen constitutionality of § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7693) |
5th Cir. |
10-June-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(n), which prohibits those under felony indictment from receiving firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7692) |
5th Cir. |
10-June-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7689) |
5th Cir. |
7-June-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms; whether to hold pending Rahimi. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7688) |
5th Cir. |
7-June-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7670) |
5th Cir. |
4-June-24 |
Whether Rahimi impacts plain-error analysis for unpreserved 922(g)(1) challenge. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7662) |
5th Cir. |
3-June-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7653) |
5th Cir. |
3-June-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms; whether to hold pending Rahimi. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-1257) |
5th Cir. |
29-May-24 |
Whether the Fourth Amendment permits police to shoot a fleeing suspect who might be holding a gun but exhibits no other signs of dangerousness. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-1225) |
4th Cir. |
17-May-24 |
First Amendment challenge to local ordinance requiring gun stores to display and distribute suicide-prevention and conflict-resolution literature. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7554) |
5th Cir. |
16-May-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7501) |
10th Cir. |
15-May-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7517) |
Supreme Ct. of Hawaii |
14-May-24 |
Whether Bruen governs when a state's criminal prosecution for |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-7293) |
10th Cir. |
19-Apr-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits felons from possessing firearms. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
(23-1141) |
1st Cir. |
18-Apr-24 |
Scope of proximate cause for claims brought under PLCAA exception by the Mexican government based on the production and sale of firearms in the United States; Scope of aiding and abetting liability with regard to the same claims. |
Distributed for conference 30-Sep-24 |
Petitions Disposed
Case |
Ct. Below |
Pet. Filed |
Implicated Law/Issue |
Status |
(23-6842) |
8th Cir. |
23-Feb-24 |
Whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms, is invariably constitutional both facially and as-applied to any defendant, no matter the case-specific circumstances. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(23-910) |
2d Cir. |
20-Feb-24 |
The proper historical reference point for Bruen's analogical inquiry; whether "good moral character" public carry permitting requirements violate the Second Amendment. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
National Association for Gun Rights And related challenges to Illionois' PICA |
7th Cir. |
12-Feb-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to Illinois' ban on certain semiautomatic firearms and large-capacity magazines; "common use" test. |
Cert Denied 2-July-24 (separate statement by Justice Thomas) |
(23-6602) |
8th Cir. |
25-Jan-2024 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(23-683) |
10th Cir. |
21-Dec-2023 |
As-applied Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms, which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(23-6170) |
8th Cir. |
28-Nov-2023 |
As-applied Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1). which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(23-455) |
5th Cir. |
31-Oct-2023 |
Facial Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8), the domestic-violence restraining order ban. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(23-376) |
5th Cir. |
5-Oct-2023 |
As-applied Second Amendment 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. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(23-374) |
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. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Rahimi 2-July-24 |
(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. |
Cert Denied 24-June-24 |
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. |
Granted, vacated, and remanded in light of Cargill 24-June-24 |
(23-886) |
Mass. Supreme Ct. |
14-Feb-24 |
Application of double jeopardy rules to attempted re-trial for unlicensed gun possession given intervening change in law due to Bruen; whether non-licensure is an essential element of the crime or proof of licensure is an affirmative defense. |
Cert Denied 24-Jun-24 |
(22-915) |
5th Cir. |
17-Mar-2023 |
Facial Second Amendment 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. |
Decided 21-Jun-24 |
(23-995) |
2d Cir. |
7-Mar-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to NY commercial regulations applying to federally-licensed firearm dealers. |
Cert Denied 17-June-24 |
(23-7231) |
Oklahoma Ct. of Criminal App. |
25-Jan-24 |
Ineffective assistance of counsel claim re failure to notify criminal defendant of potential loss of Second Amendment rights due to conviction for misdemeanour domestic violence offense. |
Cert Denied 17-Jun-24 |
(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. |
Decided 14-Jun-24 |
(23-7451) |
5th Cir. |
8-May-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
(23-7421) |
5th Cir. |
6-May-24 |
Whether Rahimi potentially impacts plain-error analysis for unpreserved 922(g)(1) challenge. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
(23-7419) |
5th Cir. |
6-May-24 |
Whether Rahimi potentially impacts plain-error analysis for unpreserved 922(g)(1) challenge. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
(23-7402) |
5th Cir. |
3-May-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms; whether to hold pending Rahimi. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
(23-7401) |
5th Cir. |
3-May-24 |
Second Amendment and Commerce Clause challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms; whether to hold pending Rahimi. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
(23-7433) |
8th Cir. |
1-Apr-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), which prohibits those convicted of felony offenses from possessing firearms. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
(23-6521) |
Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division |
16-Jan-24 |
Second Amendment challenge to NJ's pre-Bruen public-carry permitting law requiring a showing of heightened need; retroactivity of Bruen. |
Cert Denied 10-June-24 |
The National Rifle Association of America (22-842) |
2d Cir. |
7-Feb-2023 |
First Amendment challenge by the NRA to state government guidance urging financial institutions to consider the reputational risks of doing business with gun-rights organizations. |
Decided 30-May-24 |