On June 30, in a flurry of activity to close the term, the Supreme Court granted petitions in four Second Amendment cases, and immediately sent them back to lower courts, with instructions to follow the recent landmark gun rights decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which affirmed public carry as an essential part of the natural right protected by the Second Amendment. Bruen made it clear that Second Amendment cases must be judged purely by the constitutional text as informed by history, and that courts must place self-defense rights on the same level as other Bill of Rights guarantees.
These four remanded cases are major victories for Second Amendment rights, and MSLF’s Center to Keep and Bear Arms (CKBA) was proud to submit amicus curiae briefs in three of them: Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs v. Bruck (previously ANJRPC v. Grewal), Bianchi v. Frosh, and Young v. Hawaii. CKBA is proud to also have participated as amicus in the critical Bruen case itself, supporting the New York residents whose Second Amendment protected rights were upheld in the Court’s June 23 opinion.
Young concerns public carry in a manner similar to Bruen. ANJRPC pertains to bans on standard capacity magazines, and Bianchi involves a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
Also vacated and remanded by the Court is Duncan v. Bonta. The Center is currently litigating the same issue raised by that case, with its challenge to the State of Washington’s standard-capacity magazine ban in Sullivan v. Ferguson. Thus, the Supreme Court’s remand of Duncan is good news for the Center’s Sullivan plaintiffs.
By granting, vacating, and remanding these four gun rights cases, the Supreme Court has demonstrated the broad applicability of Bruen, on issues extending far beyond public carry rights. Many other gun restrictions must now be reconsidered by lower courts using only the constitutional text and relevant history.
While the work continues, this activity is a strong signal to lower courts to focus on the text of the Constitution. The CKBA and MSLF in general will be ready to help ensure the courts heed that signal.