No doubt there’s been a frenzy of reporting on litigation since last year’s landmark opinion was given to us by the Supreme Court. Several things should have been already settled. Considering the grant, vacate, and remands that the high court issued in the wake of NYSRPA v. Bruen. Why are these still pending?

One of the GVRs was the challenge to N.J.’s magazine capacity limitations. The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs sued the state not long after Governor Phil Murphy signed a ten-round maximum capacity bill into law. Since the GVR, the case was punted down by the Third Circuit Court and has been splashing around in the Federal District Court of New Jersey. ANJRPC announced there’s been some movement on the case.

Through the course of the remands down to the federal court, ANJRPC v. Platkin, the magazine case, was consolidated with two other cases. The other cases are different conflicts, but conceivably from the same family. The Cheeseman and the Ellman cases both deal with so-called “assault weapons.” Perhaps these were all combined because their common kinship would have been the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons ban which sunsetted in 2004.

Regardless, ANJRPC v. Platkin – a magazine case, was GVRed by the high court, as well as the California case Duncan v. Bonta. The Duncan case has already seen the law enjoined, again, on the district court level, with the Ninth Circuit Court playing some interesting stay games. Also relevant to the conversation, because of the combining of these unrelated conflicts, is Bianchi v. Frosh. That’s the challenge to Maryland’s assault weapons case, and it was GVRed post NYSRPA v. Bruen too.

What should be as clear as day to the lower courts and jurisdictions hostile to the Second Amendment, is that the high court found fault in these laws restricting semi-automatic firearms and laws restricting magazine capacity limits – exclusive of another. Yes, the groundwork needs to be done and the process needs to occur, but this all could have been expeditiously settled already via paperwork.

Many New Jersey gun owners have been waiting, maybe not so patiently, for more movement on the consolidated cases. ANJRPC noted the wheels are turning and they have given potential timelines to what remains at the district court level.

October 10, 2023. ANJRPC has filed motions in the combined magazine ban and assault firearm ban cases with the lower federal court for “summary judgment” and to exclude illegitimate expert witness testimony attempting to substitute legal argument with irrelevant inflammatory rhetoric. Summary judgment, if granted, would have the effect of ending the cases in favor of gun owners.

See copies of the newly filed motions by clicking HERE and HERE.

ANJRPC’s magazine ban lawsuit was given new life in 2022 when the U. S. Supreme Court returned it to the lower federal court for reconsideration in light of the Bruen decision. Since then, the case has been tied up in a procedural tangle of court-ordered “discovery,” and became further complicated when it was consolidated with ANJRPC’s separate and more recent assault firearms law challenge. Discovery was recently completed, and accordingly ANJRPC has filed these new motions to exclude the State’s expert testimony and to end the case.

All three of these cases which have been consolidated have notations relating to the state’s request to discount their expert testimony. The September 28th order said:

TEXT ORDER: Upon due consideration of the State Defendants request to file a motion to strike certain deposition errata and supplemental expert materials served by plaintiffs, and for the reasons discussed during the 9/27/23 conference call in these cases, the Court denies the request as presented. Defendants may, however, incorporate any objections to the materials at issue, and any requests that the Court strike or disregard them, into their forthcoming Daubert and summary judgment briefing. So Ordered by Magistrate Judge J. Brendan Day on 9/28/2023. (cry) (Entered: 09/28/2023)

Whether or not that’s meaningful to how the state will approach ANJRPC et.al.’s requests, remains to be seen. Considering the GVR from the high court and the bar that the state must reach, we very well may see the association’s request granted. These laws are infringements on the Second Amendment that would not have been tolerated at the time of our founding in 1791.

Firearms Policy Coalition, the organization steering the Cheeseman case, sent out their own statements Tuesday afternoon as well.

Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that it has filed a motion for summary judgment in its Cheeseman v. Platkin lawsuit, which challenges New Jersey’s unconstitutional ban on so-called “assault weapons.” The motion can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The Ban targets a vast array of arms in common use for lawful purposes through a regulatory scheme that effectively bans all ordinary law-abiding residents from even possessing these arms, much less purchasing or using them for their lawful purposes,” argues the motion. “The indisputably ubiquitous use of these otherwise widely available arms means they necessarily are not and could never be shown to be ‘dangerous and unusual,’ as must be the case before a State may subject them to an outright ban.”

“New Jersey’s ban on constitutionally protected arms is both unconstitutional and morally reprehensible,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC Action Foundation’s General Counsel and Vice President of Legal, and counsel for FPC. “Not only does New Jersey lack the power to ban its residents from owning these arms, but the ban targets some of the most commonly chosen arms in the nation for self-defense–arms that New Jersey’s politicians demand for their own protection. The fact those politicians would deny the same to the residents of New Jersey shows their lack of concern for the People.”

What’s next for the case and what can people expect? The association noted that “the next step is for the State to submit its response by November 3, which will also likely include motions of its own.” Following the continual hurry up and wait of the judicial slog, we’re told that, “Two further rounds of briefing are then scheduled to occur, concluding on December 22.” The association speculates that oral arguments will occur early on in 2024, after which time we’ll be getting a decision.

Whatever decision may come in these cases, an appeal up to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals is expected. It’s doubtful that if ANJRPC et.al. are victorious New Jersey will just take a knee as they should. The Murph and New Jersey’s anti-gun elite are too arrogant to allow us peasants to get a “W” on their watch without a fight. The pinko control freaks collectively have lost their clothes and they’re full steam ahead – regardless of legalities, constitutionality, optics, or more importantly…morals. As more information becomes available on these consolidated cases, we’ll be updating our readers with the latest news from la República de Nueva Jersey.