By Tanya Metaksa
What’s New—SCOTUS: certiorari announcements; National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) v. Lamont: Case #23-1162: The oral arguments were held on Oct. 16; Antonyuk v. James: Case No. 23-910: After SCOTUS remanded the case to US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the court reviewed the case and issued a remand order on October 24: Heeter v. James: Case # 24-cv-00623: The complaint was filed on July 1, against New York Body Armor Ban.
5 days to the Election
SCOTUS
Certiorari: The first four Fridays in November are listed as conference days, with order list issuance days on November 18 and 25. Several cases requesting certiorari were scheduled:Wilson v. State of Hawaii: Case # 23-7517 was redistributed for a conference on Oct. 18, 2024, and no action was taken. Snope v. Brown (formerly known as Maryland Shall Issue v. Montgomery County) has a response due Nov. 1. Interestingly, the State of Maryland has already received a 30-day extension to file its brief. Still, in the middle of October, it requested an additional 30 days, and late on Friday, October 11, 2024, SCOTUS (with Chief Justice John Roberts signing the decision) denied a request by Maryland for a further 30 days. Still, a short extension of 10 days was allowed. A decision on whether cert should be granted should come in December 2024.
Circuit Court
Connecticut: Second Circuit
National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) v. Lamont: Case #23-1162: The oral arguments were held on October 16, 2024, and can be heard here.
Background: The case was filed on Sept. 6, 2023, in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut following the SCOTUS decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen. The plaintiffs sought Declarative Judgment and Injunction Relief challenging the constitutionality of CONN. GEN. Stat. § 53-202c(a) and CONN. GEN. STAT. § 53-202w(b) and (c). These statutes define the term “ assault weapon.” and the term “large-capacity magazine.” The initial version of this statute was passed in 1993 as part of Connecticut’s assault weapons ban, one of the first such bans in the United States, following the 1993 federal assault weapons ban. The statute has been amended multiple times since then, particularly after significant national events, such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, when amendments in 2013, under Public Act No. 13-3, expanded the list of banned firearms and further regulated high-capacity magazines.
Judge Janet Bond Arterton denied the plaintiffs’ request for a Preliminary Injunction on Aug. 3, 2023. The decision was appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Although the hearing date was pushed back several times, the hearing was held on Oct. 16.
New York: Second Circuit
Antonyuk v. James: Case No. 23-910: The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s opinion was appealed to SCOTUS for certiorari. Certiorari was granted. SCOTUS then issued the following order: “The judgment of the above court is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit for further consideration in light of United States v. Rahimi, 602 U. S. ___ (2024).”
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case and issued the following remand order on October 24, 2024: “Having reconsidered the prior decision in light of Rahimi, and the
parties’ supplemental briefing regarding the effect of that decision on our reasoning in this case, we now issue a revised opinion in Antonyuk.
“We reached the same conclusions that we reached in our prior consolidated opinion. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the district court’s injunction in part, VACATE it in part, and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this amended opinion.”
Background: This case challenges New York’s “good moral character” requirement, passed shortly after the SCOTUS decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen. These cases had been heard in tandem in district court—Antonyuk v. Chiumento, Hardaway v. Chiumento, Christian v. Chiumento, and Spencer v. Chiumento.
According to the opinion: “In Antonyuk, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York (Suddaby, J.) enjoined enforcement of more than a dozen such provisions.”
The original appeal to the Circuit Court was filed on Feb. 20, 2023. On Feb. 26, the NY Attorney General’s office requested an extension to May 9, 2023, which was granted. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit,on December 8, 2023, issued an opinion in a ruling encompassing four different cases challenging various sections of New York’s 2022 law (CCIA). The plaintiffs then requested certiorari from SCOTUS.
District Court
Heeter v. James: Case # 24-cv-00623: The complaint was filed on July 1 against New York PENAL LAW § 270.21 & 22; N.Y. GENERAL BUSINESS LAW (“GBL”) § 396-E (“Body Armor Ban” or “Ban”). Since that date, motions to dismiss and complaints have been amended. The last motion made by the defendants was to attack the plaintiffs’ organizational standing and to seek dismissal.
