At the close of the year of the first Second Amendment cert grant in nearly a decade (setting Caetano aside), there are half a dozen petitions that have been discussed at conference and are awaiting the Court’s resolution of NYSRPA. That resolution could come next week, or it could take another 6 months. But one thing seems clear: with the new composition of the Supreme Court, the justices appear eager to more actively police the boundaries of the Second Amendment and advocates seem to have received the message.

Two cases are already up for discussion at conference in early January, Guedes and Worman. The former should not need to wait on NYSRPA for resolution, but I suspect the latter will be held. The next year is setting up to be another one where the Court could have a major impact on how the government can regulate firearms.

Two weeks ago, the Center was fortunate to host an event in Washington, D.C. on the oral arguments in NYSRPA. Like much of the commentary on this blog, and from Center leadership in media outlets, the focus was both on the signals from NYSRPA about the current justices’ approach to Second Amendment questions and about whether the Court’s justiciability doctrine would keep it from reaching the merits here.

We are grateful that Nina agreed to share her insightful views on the current Court and the hints from oral argument. Check out the discussion I moderated with Nina, Joseph, and Darrell below.

Watch HERE!

Another relatively quiet week on the Court’s gun docket. Two cases became fully briefed: Guedes which concerns the Trump Administration’s bump stock ban, and Worman, which concerns Massachusetts’s ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Guedes was distributed for conference in January, but Worman has not yet been scheduled for conference. (Lastly, I’ll just note that the responses in Matsura and Baker, are due on December 30 and January 2, respectively—barring any last minute extensions—so keep those lawyers drafting over the holidays in your thoughts. Similar timing for any potential reply brief in Malpasso. When I was in practice, I had a filing due December 28 one year and it was quite unpleasant.)

After all the excitement the last few weeks, it has been quiet at the Court for gun cases. No new petitions were filed this week, and we’ve seen no more movement on any of the pending ones. It also seems that NYSRPA is more than likely going to take a few more weeks or months, and not days, for the Court to issue its decision. We’ll be watching when the Court next convenes in the New Year!

After oral arguments in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. City of New York, we’ve been poring over the transcript, listening to the audio, and reading all the reactions from Court watchers and others inside the room. We’ll have more to say in the coming weeks (including tomorrow night at our event in D.C. with Nina Totenberg), but for now we’re posting this annotated oral argument transcript with our take on what stood out to us. We’ve included comments on specific arguments and exchanges as well as highlights of particular phrasing or language that we thought noteworthy. Check it out!

NYSRPA Mark-up – Duke Center for Firearms Law