There was major news from the Supreme Court on Friday, as the federal government filed a petition for certiorari in United States v. Rahimi. In Rahimi, a Fifth Circuit panel struck down as unconstitutional § 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(8)—which prohibits gun possession by those subject to certain domestic-violence protective orders issued after notice and a hearing (we covered […]
Doe will be considered at the Court’s March 24 conference, and Lora is still set for oral argument in about two weeks on March 28. We’re adding one new case to the tracker this week, which is not a Second Amendment case but may be of interest to readers. NRA v. Vullo involves a First […]
On February 17, a petition for certiorari was filed in Doe v. United States. One of the issues presented in Doe is whether the Massachusetts state crime of assault is a “violent felony” within the meaning of the Armed Career Criminal Act when committed with a dangerous weapon (in this instance, a firearm). While the Supreme […]
This morning, the Court denied certiorari in Beemer v. Whitmer. The petitioners in Beemer had sought clarification of whether Michigan’s now-lifted emergency pandemic orders (including the closure of gun stores) could be challenged on constitutional grounds under the mootness doctrine. We’ve also belatedly added an additional case to the tracker: Lora v. United States. The […]
This is the second post in our ongoing series summarizing recent legal scholarship on Bruen and the future course of Second Amendment jurisprudence. In a new Article, Albert Alschuler focuses on Bruen’s decision to emphasize and elevate legislative inaction: But the inaction of early legislatures doesn’t imply that anyone regarded training requirements as unconstitutional. No […]
It has been a quiet couple of weeks at the Supreme Court for the Second Amendment, as post-Bruen cases continue to work their way up to the appellate level. Beemer v. Whitmer, which involves a Second Amendment challenge to the COVID-19-related closure of gun stores in Michigan, is set to be considered at the Court’s upcoming […]
The past few weeks have seen a host of new scholarship surrounding Bruen, which we will cover on the blog going forward. In a new article, Lawrence Solum and Randy Barnett consider whether “the use of history and tradition in Dobbs, Bruen, and Kennedy [can] be reconciled with the Supreme Court’s embrace of originalism.” Solum […]
On December 15, Senior District Judge Robert Miller of the Northern District of Indiana issued an opinion in United States v. Reyna rejecting a Second Amendment challenge to 18 U.S.C. § 922(k)—the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm with a removed, obliterated, or altered serial number. The decision is notable, especially when compared to an […]
On January 18, the Court denied the application for emergency interim relief in Gazzola v. Hochul, after that application was referred to the full Court by Justice Sotomayor. The Court issued a one-sentence order, but there was no separate statement as in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli. Gazzola deals with restrictions on the commercial sale of guns in New […]
The Bruen majority writes that “[t]he job of judges is not to resolve historical questions in the abstract” (emphasis added). Rather, the legal inquiry is distinct from traditional historical study in that it demands answers even when history may not speak clearly and relies on adversarial presentation to resolve difficult historical questions. In other words, […]
On January 11, the Supreme Court denied the emergency application filed in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli asking the Court to vacate the Second Circuit’s stay of District Judge Suddaby’s preliminary injunction decision striking down substantial portions of New York’s post-Bruen gun law (the application itself is summarized in more detail in our most recent SCOTUS Gun […]
This post is part of a mini-symposium on “Private Property and the Second Amendment,” which includes Jake Charles’ post Bruen, Private Property & the Second Amendment, and Robert Leider’s post Pretextually Eliminating the Right to Bear Arms through Gerrymandered Property Rules. Stay tuned for additional response posts that will run on the blog in the […]
In Antonyuk v. Nigrelli (a challenge to New York’s post-Bruen gun law that we’ve covered here, here, here, and here), the plaintiffs’ application asking the Court to vacate the Second Circuit’s stay of the district court order striking down large portions of the law remains outstanding. Meanwhile, opening briefs in the Second Circuit appeal are due today, […]
The big news at SCOTUS on the Second Amendment front is that the plaintiffs in Antonyuk v. Nigrelli (a challenge to New York’s post-Bruen gun law that we’ve covered here, here, here, and here) have filed an application with the Supreme Court asking to vacate the Second Circuit’s decision to stay a district court order striking down […]
The past year has been the busiest in the last decade, if not longer, for the field of firearms law. After holding oral arguments in November 2021, the Supreme Court issued its first major Second Amendment decision in 12 years in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen on June 23, 2022. Bruen […]
This is a guest post that is part of a mini-symposium on “Private Property and the Second Amendment,” responding to Jake Charles’ earlier post Bruen, Private Property & the Second Amendment. Stay tuned for additional response posts that will run on the blog in the coming weeks. When the Supreme Court required public school desegregation […]
Some believe that Bruen decision may mark a larger shift toward historicism, and historical regulatory practice, in constitutional interpretation. In an upcoming article in the Duke Journal of Constitutional Law and Public Policy, Clay Calvert and Mary-Rose Papandrea consider what the Court’s rejection of means-ends scrutiny in Bruen signals for other areas of constitutional law—namely, […]
The petition in Baldea, a pro se challenge to New York’s denial of a concealed-carry license application under the pre-Bruen “proper cause” standard, was denied on December 5. Not surprisingly, given that we are still less than 5 months out from the Bruen decision, most of the action continues to occur at the lower levels of the federal court […]
The most recent responses to Marquette Law School’s Supreme Court poll, which ran from November 15-22, indicated that 64% of respondents favored or somewhat favored a Supreme Court decision holding “that the 2nd Amendment right to ‘keep and bear arms’ protects the right to carry a gun outside the home.” 19% of respondents somewhat opposed […]
There are a few updates on the Supreme Court front this week. Baldea, a pro se challenge to New York’s denial of a concealed-carry license application under the pre-Bruen “proper cause” standard, is set to be considered at the Court’s December 2nd conference. We’ve also added another case to the tracker: Greco v. Platkin, a Fourth Amendment […]
While most of the action on Second Amendment challenges continues to occur in the federal district and appellate courts, there were a few developments recently with the Supreme Court petitions we are tracking. The Court denied certiorari in Carnes, a challenge implicating the federal ban on gun possession by an unlawful drug user, on October […]
On September 23, 2022, the Center co-hosted a symposium in New York, in coordination with the New York University Law Review, on the theme of Gun Rights and Regulation after Bruen. The symposium was a tremendous success and the Center would like to thank all those who participated, attended in person, and tuned into the live stream. […]
We put the SCOTUS updates on pause briefly, in part because the Court did not take another Second Amendment or firearms-centric case this term. Over the past few weeks, responses were filed in several cases we are tracking including Torcivia, McCutchen, and Carnes. There’s also one new case on the tracker this week: Howling v. […]
In an 8-page decision issued on October 13, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled in Columbia Housing v. Braden that the landlord of a public housing complex cannot prohibit tenants from keeping firearms in their residences because this “prohibition . . . is an unconstitutional lease condition.” The decision, which is consistent with at least […]
In recent weeks, the Center has devoted a great deal of space to covering the legal implications of the Bruen decision, including how lower courts in New York, Virginia, Texas, and other jurisdictions have started to apply its history-focused framework. But what about Bruen’s practical implications? Has the decision impacted the number of people seeking […]
