SCOTUS denies cert in 48 firearms law cases, including Minnesota case on national reciprocity
WASHINGTON — While the gun rights community is celebrating the Supreme Court granting cert in a so-called assault weapons case (with no outcome as of yet), the court also indicated that it sees some aspects of the Second Amendment as a second-class right, specifically the ability to carry across state lines.
In this term, according to the Duke Center for Firearms Law, the court denied cert in 48 firearms-law-related cases, and “punted on 9 cases from the Long Conference, which remain pending.” The court also received four new cert petitions on firearms law issues in the last week.
Among the many cases denied was Johnson v. Jacobson, a case addressing national reciprocity where Second Amendment-related rights often end at state lines due to anti-gun legislatures. This particular case seemed strong as it referenced significant “traveler’s exception” laws that showed a history and tradition of permitting armed travel through different jurisdictions.
CDC 'corrects' post, restores data on defensive gun uses with increased lower threshold
ATLANTA — In May of 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed defensive gun-use data due to lobbying from gun-control groups who argued that the data was effective in stopping gun control legislation, as documented by crimeresearch.org.
Not only has that data been restored by the Trump administration, but the CDC has corrected a significant error in the lower end of the estimate that came out of the National Crime Victimization Survey, identifying that the range of defensive gun uses is not 60,000 to 2.5 million, but rather an order of magnitude higher: 500,000 to more than 3 million per year.
The revised statistics on defensive gun uses are available on the CDC site.
District court denies injunction in case against Maryland's 'machine gun convertible pistol' ban
BALTIMORE — U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sided with the State of Maryland in one of the first legal steps in the case against the state’s ban on “machine gun convertible pistols” which largely target Glock and Glock-clones by denying an injunction against the law.
“As this Court ruled at an expedited hearing, on September 25, 2026, injunctive relief would be an extraordinary exercise of this Court’s power in blocking a democratically enacted state law,” wrote the court on October 5, in a 45-page memorandum.
This disappointing ruling elevated the state’s wildly unconstitutional law-making over the disarmament of law-abiding gun owners. The court asserts that the gun ban measure (SB 334) “is a commensurate response to the advances and to today’s unrelenting tide of mass shootings and gun violence,” despite all known data – including FBI data released in August – showing a nationwide drop in violent crime.
The suit was filed in May of this year by a coalition of gun rights groups. The case will now continue on the path of merits review.
National Guardsman arrested for carrying unlicensed pistol in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON — This week, the Supreme Court denied cert in a case addressing national concealed carry reciprocity, but the arrest of a National Guardsman from Oklahoma deployed in Washington, D.C., draws further attention to the need for an end to the patchwork approach of licensing that makes felons of law-abiding Americans as they cross state lines.
Jakob Noonan, 22, a National Guardsman deployed on a task force in D.C., was arrested on Monday, September 28, subsequent to a traffic stop and charged with the gun-related offense of having an unlicensed firearm. He was not on duty at the time and was carrying a pistol he was legally allowed to have in his home state of Oklahoma. The felony offense could carry a sentence of up to five years in prison.
District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is the prosecutor who oversees the District and has the authority to drop charges, an action that the National Association for Gun Rights is calling for. (To send a message to Attorney Pirro, use the form they created.)
Pirro famously said “I don’t care if you’re a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else…” as she promised to continue forcing government permission slips on citizens in February.
While it might seem particularly egregious that a National Guard member who is tasked as part of an armed anti-crime enforcement unit was arrested, this publication believes that no law-abiding citizen should lose their constitutionally protected rights simply because they cross state lines.
California county settles in suit challenging red dot and flashlight bans on weapons
BELLEVUE, Wash. — This story likely deserves an award for the strangest headline of the week, but nonetheless is a 2A victory.
On October 8, Second Amendment Foundation announced that it had reached a settlement with Contra Costa County, California, in a lawsuit that challenged a bizarre sheriff’s office policy that prohibited permit holders from carrying handguns equipped with red dot sights or flashlights and an outright ban on the carry of single action only 1911- and 2011-style pistols.
SAF filed the suit on June 17, noting that “no other county or city in California – or anywhere else in the United States – imposes such restrictions on law-abiding carry permit holders.”
In a press statement announcing the settlement, SAF Director of Legal Research and Education and attorney of record in the case Kostas Moros stated, “A sheriff does not get to invent a shorter list of approved handguns and accessories than the Constitution allows. Even though red-dot sights, weapon lights and 1911 and 2011 pistols are in common use for lawful self-defense, Contra Costa treated them as contraband. This settlement ends that unlawful practice, and we are pleased the County saw the error if its ways and resolved these issues.”
FPC asks 15 states to stop enforcement of laws tying legality of firearms to NFA
While the October 9 announcement from the ATF stating it would no longer enforce NFA restrictions on “any person” with regard to untaxed firearms was a win for many, at least 15 states have laws tying legality of silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, or other covered arms to compliance with the federal National Firearms Act registration process.
Firearms Policy Coalition lawyers sent letters to these 15 states asking them “to immediately stop enforcement while lawmakers repeal the laws for good.”
The list of impacted states includes: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
“The states that require compliance with this unconstitutional and now-defunct federal scheme should immediately end enforcement and repeal their laws as soon as possible,” said FPC President Brandon Combs, in an online statement. “We certainly hope they will put liberty and their citizens first, and we stand ready and willing to partner with them to protect the rights of their citizens.”
