SCOTUS Still In A 2A Holding Pattern, No New Cases Accepted

The Supreme Court announced its orders from Friday’s conference on Monday morning, and once again the Court has taken a pass on the ten Second Amendment-related cases that its currently considering. None of the ten cases were denied by the Court, which means they’ll all be back in conference for justices to consider again.

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Over at SCOTUSblog, reporter Amy Howe says she thinks it’s likely that the justices are debating which of the ten cases to accept, and doesn’t see the delay as a sign that the Court will ultimately reject all ten of the challenges its considering.

The last case the Court accepted that dealt with a challenge to a gun control law was New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. New York City, which the Court declared moot back in April after the city changed the law in question in an attempt to avoid defending it at the Supreme Court. Justice Samuel Alito was joined by Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch in a dissenting opinion that argued the New York City case still had live issues that needed to be addressed by the Court, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh weighed in separately, agreeing with the majority that the case was moot, but urging his fellow justices to accept another Second Amendment case as quickly as possible.

Here’s a look at the ten cases that are currently being considered by the Supreme Court.

Mance v. Barr is a case challenging the ban on interstate sales of handguns.

Pena v. Horan is a challenge to California’s microstamping law, which took effect in 2012 and has curtailed not only the availability of new models of handguns, but has caused existing models of handguns to be barred from being sold in the state.

Rogers v. GrewalCheeseman v. Polillo, and  Ciolek v. New Jersey all deal with challenges to New Jersey’s carry laws and “justifiable need” requirement for a carry permit, while Malpasso v. Pallozzi takes on similar requirements in the state of Maryland.

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Culp v. Raoul challenges an Illinois law barring residents from 45 other states from applying for a non-resident concealed carry license, while Wilson v. Cook County takes on the Illinois county’s ban on modern sporting rifles.

There are also two cases out of Massachusetts being considered by the Court; a challenge to Massachusetts’ carry laws called Gould v. Lipsonand Worman v. Healey, a challenge to the state’s ban on so-called assault weapons.

Finally, there’s Beers v. Barr, a case dealing with the lifelong prohibition on firearms for those who’ve been involuntarily committed to a mental institution.

The Supreme Court will meet again in conference this Thursday, but because of the Memorial Day holiday we won’t see orders released until later next week. As much as I would have loved to have seen the Court announce that it is taking one or more of these cases today, I still think the odds are good that we’ll see cert granted in at least one case before long.

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