SCOTUS Gun Watch – Week of 10/4/21
The Supreme Court’s new Term is officially underway today.
This Term is shaping up to be a significant one, and Bruen is no small part of that significance.
The Court has also released the order list from its long conference last week, and I have updated the chart accordingly. (I also added one case that slipped under my radar and was flagged by a helpful Twitter follower.)
The Court denied cert in 5 of the cases it considered last week—all the cases except ANJRP and Young.
At first, I thought both could be explained as cases being held pending Bruen, but that actually doesn’t seem right to me now.
After all, the Court didn’t even hold Russell, which was a challenge to NJ’s similar may-issue licensing regime, as it considered Bruen.
Instead, I think ANJRP (a challenge to NJ’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds) and Young (a challenge to Hawaii’s good-cause regime for open carry) look like they may be candidates for the Supreme Court’s further consideration about the Second Amendment’s scope.
One point worth emphasizing is that Bruen (and Young) concern open questions about where weapons can go, and ANJRP concerns open questions about what weapons can be owned, but the Court has shown continuing disinterest in the question of who can own or carry weapons with its cert denial in all pending prohibited-person challenges.
Petitions Pending
| Case | Ct. Below | Pet. Filed | Implicated Law/Issue | Status |
| 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 | Cert Granted; reply br. due @ 14-Oct-2021; arguments set for Nov. 3 |
| Keahey v. Marquis
(20-1298) |
6th Cir. | 16-Mar-21 | Failure to give self-defense instruction | Cert Denied |
| Russell v. New Jersey
(20-1419) |
N.J. Superior Ct. | 2-Apr-21 | Challenge to New Jersey’s good cause public carry law | Cert Denied |
| Reyes-Torres, v. United States
(20-7714) |
5th Cir. | 5- Apr-2021 | Challenge to § 922(g)(5) (federal law barring undocumented immigrants from possessing firearms) | Cert Denied |
| Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v.
(20-1507) |
3d Cir. | 26-Apr-21 | Challenge to New Jersey ban on magazines holding 10 rounds or more | distributed at 27-Sep-2021 conference |
| Young v. Hawaii
(20-1639) |
9th Cir. | 11-May-21 | Challenge to Hawaii’s restrictive open carry law | distributed at 27-Sep-2021 conference |
| Weber v. Ohio
(20-1640) |
Ohio Sup. Ct. | 21-May-21 | Challenge to Ohio law barring carrying/using firearms while intoxicated | Cert Denied |
| Roundtree v. Wisconsin
(20-1706) |
Wisc. Sup. Ct. | 4-June-2021 | Challenge to state law prohibiting firearm possession by non-violent felon | Cert Denied |
| Harley v. Garland
(21-104 |
4th Cir. | 22-July-2021 | As-applied challenge to § 922(g)(9) (conviction for misdemeanor domestic violence offense) | reply due @ 24-Oct-2021 |
| Aposhian v. Garland
(21-159) |
10th Cir. | 2-Aug-2021 | Challenge to agency deference re the bump stock ban | response due 3-Nov-2021 |
| P.Z. v. New Jersey
(21-175) |
N.J. Superior Ct. | 4-Aug-2021 | Challenge to N.J. law permitting firearms seizure/prohibiting possession pursuant to DV restraining order | response due 29-Oct-2021
(response requested by Court) |
Petitions Disposed
| Case | Ct. Below | Pet. Filed | Implicated Law/Issue | Status |
| Flick v. Rosen
(20-902) |
11th Cir. | 29-Dec-20 | As-applied challenge to 922(g)(1) | Cert Denied |
| Fleury v. Massachusetts
(20-1122) |
App. Ct. Mass. | 2-Nov-20 | Challenge to Mass. firearm storage law | Cert Denied |
| Holloway v. Barr
(20-782) |
3d Cir. | 3-Dec-20 | As-applied challenge to 922(g)(1) | Cert Denied |
| Mai v. United States
(20-819) |
9th Cir. | 9-Dec-20 | As-applied challenge to 922(g)(4) | Cert Denied |
| Folajtar v. Barr
(20-812) |
3d Cir. | 11-Dec-20 | As-applied challenge to 922(g)(1) | Cert Denied |
| Greer v. United States
(19-8709) |
11th Cir. | 8-Jun-2020 | Scope of appellate review for Rehaif errors | Decided 14-June-2021 |
| Caniglia v. Strom
(20-157) |
1st Cir. | 10-Aug-20 | Fourth Amendment challenge to gun removal | Decided 17-May-2021 |
| Hobbs v. United States
(20-171) |
6th Cir. | 13-Aug-20 | Guilty plea under 922(g) without knowledge of disqualifying status
|
Cert Denied |
| United States v. Gary
(20-444) |
4th Cir. | 5-Oct-20 | Guilty plea under 922(g) without being informed that knowledge is an element of the offense
(Govt is petitioner) |
Decided 14-June-2021 |
| Rodriguez v. San Jose
(19-1057) |
9th Cir. | 21-Feb-20 | Warrantless search and seizure of firearms under Fourth Amendment | Cert Denied |
| Johnson v. United States
(19-1390) |
4th. Cir. | 12-Jun-20 | Vagueness challenge to the Armed Career Criminal Act’s elements clause | Cert Denied |
| Zoie H. v Nebraska
(19-1418) |
Neb. Sup. Ct. | 22-June-20
|
Second and Sixth Amendment challenge to jury-less conviction that can result in gun disqualifer for juveniles | Cert Denied |
| Caldara v. City of Boulder
(20-416) |
10th Cir. | 24-Sep-20 | Federal court abstention over Second Amendment claims being adjudicated in state court | Cert Denied |
| Torres v. United States
(20-5579) |
9th Cir. | 27-Aug-20 | As-applied challenge to 922(g)(1) | Cert Denied |
| E.H. v. Florida Dept. Ag. (Pro se)
(20-627) |
Fla. Ct. App. | 9-Oct-20 | Challenge to firearm license denial based on prior mental health commitment | Cert Denied |
| Porter v. United States
(20-522) |
6th Cir. | 16-Oct-20 | Challenge to ACCA enhancement | Cert Denied |
| McGinnis v. United States
(20-6046) |
5th Cir. | 13-Oct-20 | As-applied challenge to 922(g)(8) | Cert Denied |
| Yoo v. United States
(20-550) |
5th Cir. | 21-Oct-20 | Challenge to conviction based on misstatements on Form 4473 (req’d for purchase at a gun dealer) | Cert Denied |
| Knowles v. Hart
(20-840) |
11th Cir. | 17-Dec-20 | Fourth Amendment challenge to use of deadly force against person with holstered weapon | Cert Denied |
| Libertarian Party of Erie County v. Cuomo
(20-1151) |
2d Cir. | 9-Feb-21 | Challenge to New York’s pistol permit regime | Cert Denied |