2A Legal Update

[Charlie T Waite]

Updates in Texas and Oregon Cases in Today's FPC Daily 2A Legal Update
7/29/21

In today's FPC legal update, we have updates in cases from Texas and Oregon.

Defense Distributed v. Bruck

Issue: 3D-printed guns/files

Court: Fifth Circuit

Action: Reply brief of appellants

In this lawsuit, the plaintiffs are appealing a district court judge's decision to take their claims against a law banning 3D-printed guns and files and move them from Texas to New Jersey. In their reply brief, the plaintiffs argue that the lawsuit should stay in Texas, and that the New Jersey Attorney General's "gamesmanship seeks chaotic segregation, hoping to gain delay and an unfounded home court advantage to prolong his censorship regime at any expense." Oral arguments will be held in this case on August 3rd.

Columbia County In Rem

Issue: Second Amendment Sanctuaries

Court: Oregon State Court

Action: Opinion

In this (Everytown-supported) lawsuit, the petitioners asked the court to invalidate Columbia County's “Second Amendment Sanctuary” ordinance, which was passed into law by the county's voters last November. Today, the judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying that the petitioners failed to show the existence of a controversy for the court to rule on. Without a live controversy, the judge said, any opinion in this case would be an impermissible advisory opinion.

Updates in Two Second Circuit Cases in Today's FPC Daily 2A Legal Update

7/28/21

In today's FPC legal update, we have updates in two cases from the Second Circuit (which is comprised of New York, Connecticut, and Vermont).

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Syracuse v. ATF

Issue: "Firearm" definition

Court: Second Circuit

Action: Reply brief

In this lawsuit, gun control groups and cities sued the ATF, attempting to redefine so-called "80% receivers" as firearm receivers. FPC responded by filing a motion to intervene in the lawsuit, but it was denied by the district court judge. The denial is now being appealed to the Second Circuit, where FPC filed a reply brief arguing that "the Executive Branch as a whole, including the DOJ and ATF, has shown a changing position toward the [Gun Control Act] and the definition of 'firearm'—moving away from its longstanding position and toward the inappropriate regulation of the objects at issue sought by [the cites and groups]." The court will now decide whether to hear oral arguments in this case.

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CCDL v. Lamont

Issue: Gun licenses

Court: Second Circuit

Action: Opinion

In this lawsuit, Connecticut appealed the preliminary injunction (PI) issued by a district court judge after the state simultaneously required fingerprinting for gun permits while allowing police to stop collecting them. Without getting to the merits of the lawsuit, the court ruled that "the district court had no jurisdiction to issue" the injunction because "with respect to the individual plaintiffs, the PI motion became moot in the district court" and "CCDL lacked organizational standing." The Plaintiffs in this lawsuit can now choose to file an en banc petition (which asks the entire Second Circuit to hear the case) or appeal to the Supreme Court, although neither of them are required to take up the case.

Updates in New York, Hawaii, and Sixth Circuit Cases in Today's FPC Daily 2A Legal Update

7/26/21

In today's FPC legal update, we have updates in Cases from New York, Hawaii, and the Sixth Circuit.

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Henry v. Nassau County

Issue: Pistol license revocation

Court: Second Circuit

Action: Opinion

In this lawsuit, the Second Circuit revived and remanded a challenge to Nassau County, New York's revocation of a pistol license, saying that "the district court failed to treat the right to keep and bear arms as an individual right." Comparing the Second Amendment to other rights, the court noted that it "would never hold that a plaintiff failed to state a claim at the 'core' of the First Amendment because the plaintiff alleged only that the government prohibited him from speaking but did not ban 'all' speech for 'all' people." The lawsuit will now go back to the district court, where the plaintiff will get a chance to argue some of his claims against the county.

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Young v. Hawaii

Issue: Carry ban

Court: Supreme Court

Action: Brief in opposition

In this lawsuit challenging Hawaii's carry laws, the state filed an opposition to the cert petition, which argues that the Supreme Court should decline to hear this case. In the brief, the state argues that "Young does not identify a single word in the majority opinion that supports his contention that the Ninth Circuit eliminated any right to public carry," and that "this case is riddled with vehicle defects that would distort and potentially impede review of the question presented." Young will have an opportunity to respond to the state's brief before the court decides whether to hear the case.

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GOA v. Garland

Issue: Bump stock ban

Court: Sixth Circuit

Action: Appellants' supplemental brief

In this lawsuit challenging the federal bump stock ban, the plaintiffs filed a supplemental brief that argues the en banc court (comprised of all the Sixth Circuit's active judges) should stop the enforcement of the ban, saying "[s]ince semi-automatic firearms equipped with bump stocks require a separate 'function of the trigger' for each round that is fired, they similarly are not machineguns." In addition, the brief argues that "federal courts cannot stand idly by while ATF continues to evade the statutes Congress wrote through cutesy 'interpretations' of the text, thereafter rubber stamped by judges through use of Chevron deference." The court will now decide when to hear oral arguments in this case.