Three years ago we had no chance at the judiciary and our hope rested uneasily at the state level. The low-hanging fruit had been picked and the remaining legislatures were in large measure unfriendly. Now, thanks to Trump and his Originalist appointees we are accumulating judges, many at the Court of Appeal level. Some CAs (the last court before SCOTUS) have already been flipped. Others are on the edge. The Supreme Court is now 5-4 (possibly soon to be 6-3). The Court has agreed to hear and decide the
New York Rifle & Pistol Association v New York City petition (see below). Five other gun cases are on "hold" pending the NYR&PA decision. To put this in perspective, the last significant Supreme Court 2nd Amendment case was
McDonald in 2010. We are leaving a 9 year drought with the probability of six (total) important gun cases being favorably decided by the end of June, 2020.
There are three parts to the Second Amendment. The "Keep" portion was answered by "Heller" (2008), leaving "Bear" and "Infringed" hanging. Three of the five presently held cases address "Bear", and the remaining two respond to "Infringed" (
Mance with out-of-state purchases and
Pena with rostered sales.) We won't see another inflection point like this in our lifetimes. This is not the time to become fretful.
Reference:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docket.aspx
NYSR&PA v NYC (Docket 18-280)
CERT. GRANTED 1/22/2019
The questions presented are: Whether the City's ban on transporting a licensed, locked, and unloaded handgun to a home or shooting range outside city limits is consistent with the Second Amendment, the Commerce Clause, and the constitutional right to travel.
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SCOTUS Gun Cases “Held” Pending NYSR&PA:
Bear:
Rogers v Grewal (Docket 18-824)
The questions presented are: 1. Whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm outside the home for self defense. 2. Whether the government may deny categorically the exercise of the right to carry a firearm outside the home to typical law-abiding citizens by conditioning the exercise of the right on a showing of a special need to carry a firearm
Bear:
Gould v Lipson (Docket 18-1272)
The questions presented are: 1. Whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm outside the home for self defense. 2. Whether the government may deny categorically the exercise of the right to carry a firearm outside the home to typical law-abiding citizens by conditioning the exercise of the right on a showing of a special need to carry a firearm.
Bear:
Cheeseman v Pollillo (Docket 19-27)
The question presented is: 1. Whether States can limit the ability to bear handguns outside the home to only those found to have a sufficiently heightened “need” for self-protection.
Interstate Sales:
Mance v Barr (Docket 18-663)
The question presented is: Whether prohibiting interstate handgun sales, facially or as-applied to consumers whose home jurisdictions authorize such transactions, violates the Second Amendment and the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
Handgun Rosters:
Pena v Horan (Docket 18-843)
The question presented is: Whether California’s “Unsafe Handgun Act,” Cal. Penal Code § 31900 et seq., violates the Second Amendment by banning handguns of the kind in common use for traditional lawful purposes