What’s New: The ACLU submitted an unusual pro-Second Amendment amicus brief in a gun rights case known as U.S. v. Duarte in the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; the Second Amendment Foundation has submitted an appellants brief to the Maryland state Supreme Court in their challenge of the state’s “red flag” law; SAF and its partners filed an amicus brief with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case challenging a ban on firearms in a post office facility; Gun rights groups have requested an en banc hearing before a full panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case known as May v. Bonta, challenging California’s “sensitive places” law; A petition for certiorari has been filed with SCOTUS in two cases—Gray v. Attorney General Delaware and Graham v. Attorney General Delaware— asking whether an infringement of Second Amendment rights constitutes per se irreparable injury. Supreme Court convenes next Monday, Oct. 7 for its new session.
California: An amicus brief has been submitted by the American Civil Liberties Union in a Second Amendment case contending a man named Steven Duarte “did not forfeit his Second Amendment rights because of a past, nonviolent felony conviction.” The case is known as U.S. v. Duarte.
The ACLU’s 40-page brief is critical about how the law has been used to punish people who had been previously convicted for the most innocuous offenses. The brief notes, for example, “The government cannot show that applying such sweeping criminal liability to people like Mr. Duarte is consistent with the principles underpinning our tradition of regulating firearms.”
California: Attorneys representing several gun rights groups in a case challenging California’s “sensitive places” statute have filed a petition for an en banc rehearing before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is known as May v. Bonta.
The groups are the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, the Gun Owners Foundation, Gun Owners of California, Liberal Gun Club, California Rifle & Pistol Association and several individuals including Reno May, for whom the case is named. They are represented by attorneys C.D. Michel, Joshua Robert Dale, Alexander A. Frank and Konstadinos T. Moros at Michel & Associates in Long Beach, Calif., and Donald Kilmer of Caldwell, Idaho.
A three-judge panel recently affirmed an injunction against the state’s restrictions “with respect to hospitals and similar medical facilities, public transit, gatherings that require a permit, places of worship, financial institutions, parking areas and similar areas connected to those places, and the new default rule as to private property.” But it was only a partial victory, and it narrowed the sweeping injunction issued earlier by the district court.
Delaware: Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in two different federal court challenges of gun and magazine bans in Delaware have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for certiorari, asking the court to rule whether an infringement of Second Amendment rights constitutes per se irreparable injury. The cases—Gray v. Attorney General Delaware and Graham v. Attorney General Delaware—were consolidated with a third case in the Court of Appeals. In Gray, SAF is joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, DJJAMS LLC and two citizens, William Taylor and Gabriel Gray. In the Graham case, SAF and FPC are joined by two other citizens, Christopher Graham and Owen Stevens. They are represented by attorneys Bradley P. Lehman at Gellert, Scali, Busenkell & Brown in Wilmington, Del., and David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and John D. Ohlendorf at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C.
Noting in their petition that the high court has previously ruled that “the loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury,” SAF and its partners ask the court to determine whether the same standard applies to the Second Amendment.
Maryland: Attorneys representing SAF and Maryland resident Donald S. Willey have submitted an appellants’ brief to the Maryland Supreme Court in their federal challenge of that state’s so-called “red flag” law. The case is known as Willey v. Brown and it was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in August 2023.
Mr. Willey, a 64-year-old Marine Corps veteran, has been battling officials in Maryland’s Dorchester County over alleged di minimis nuisance and zoning infractions. Ultimately, Willey became the subject of an Extreme Risk Protective Order (“ERPO”) to have his firearms and ammunition confiscated, for allegedly making threats, which Willey steadfastly denied. Willey was forced to endure a humiliating involuntary mental health evaluation. The federal lawsuit alleges Willey’s constitutional rights were violated for nearly two weeks, after which his firearms were returned.
SAF and Mr. Willey are represented by attorneys Mark W. Pennak at Maryland Shall Issue in Baltimore, and by Edward A. Paltzik, Serge Krimnus and Meredith Lloyd at Bochner PLLC in New York.
Florida: The Second Amendment Foundation and its partners have filed an amicus brief with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving a Florida postal worker who was indicted for possessing a firearm in a federal facility.
He was cleared by the federal district court, and now the government is appealing. SAF and its partners are encouraging the 11th Circuit Court to uphold the district court ruling. The case is known as U.S. v. Ayala.
Joining SAF are the California Rifle & Pistol Association, Minnesota Gun Owners’ Caucus and Second Amendment Law Center. They are represented by attorneys C.D. Michel and Konstadinos T. Moros at Michel & Associates in Long Beach, Calif.
Supreme Court: The U.S. Supreme Court convenes for its October 2024 session next Monday, Oct. 7. Gun rights groups are waiting to learn whether some cases will be granted certiorari during the new session, which will adjourn in June 2025.
