Today, at its weekly conference, the Supreme Court will consider whether to grant review in McGinnis v. United States. In the case, Eric McGinnis challenges his conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(8) for possessing a firearm while subject to a protective order. Both Darrell and I have previously blogged about the case after the Fifth […]
Last December, the Kansas Court of Appeals issued an interesting unpublished opinion in Bader v. Concealed Carry Licensing Unit. The dispute concerned Ryan Bader’s claim to a concealed carry handgun license. The state’s Concealed Carry Licensing Unit (CCLU) denied Bader a license because he had previously been convicted of attempted robbery, though Bader had the […]
In addition to the several other Second Amendment challenges recently filed at the Supreme Court, a new one was filed in the last days of 2020 and just docketed earlier this week: Flick v. Rosen. Like a couple of the other petitions, Flick involves an as-applied challenge to the felon prohibitor. But unlike at least one of […]
In Rehaif v. United States, the Supreme Court clarified what the government must prove to secure a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), which criminalizes gun possession for certain classes of people. Prior to Rehaif, most courts had held that the government only had to prove that a person knowingly possessed a weapon that had […]
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied cert in Torres v. United States, the first case that presented a direct Second Amendment issue since Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the Court. Torres raised the question of whether 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)—which categorically forbids those with felony convictions from possessing firearms—can be challenged on an as-applied basis. […]
The especially active gun-rights organization, Firearms Policy Coalition, has filed a new cert petition this week in Holloway v. Barr. As we’ve highlighted before on the blog, Holloway is another as-applied challenge to the federal firearm prohibitor. This one (like the Folajtar case from a few weeks ago) takes place in one of the few circuits to […]
On his campaign website, President-Elect Joe Biden lists several of his administration’s priorities for firearm regulation. Since the actual policy proposals are not spelled out in depth, it is hard to evaluate the precise details of his plan. And, of course, the ones that require congressional action are much less likely to pass if the […]
The question of who gets to keep and bear arms is an issue that Heller left unsettled when it announced an individual right in 2008. Since then, lower courts have generally rejected challenges to the federal law barring felons from possessing firearms. Indeed, courts are unanimous that facial challenges to the law fail, but there […]
In a decision earlier this week, Doe v. Governor of Pennsylvania, the Third Circuit rejected a facial due process challenge by two men whose mental health commitments rendered them ineligible to possess firearms. They challenged a Pennsylvania law that forbids anyone who has been “committed to a mental institution for inpatient care and treatment” under […]
With just a few years on the bench, Judge Barrett has already developed a surprisingly deep record on guns and the Second Amendment. These cases suggest a special solicitude for gun owners and users—and not just for the paradigmatic “law-abiding, responsible” ones. Indeed, in her Second Amendment and criminal law cases, she has several times […]
