~Basil

*******************

Dear MSSA Friends,

You'll be interested to know that MSSA has been involved in two
firearms-related cases that have been pending before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS). These cases have been on hold pending the recently released SCOTUS decision in the New York case.

The two pending cases were both from the liberal federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Montana. One case is Duncan v. Bonta, which challenges California's ban on standard-capacity magazines (that hold more than ten rounds). In Duncan, the Ninth Circuit had upheld California's magazine ban. The other case is Young v. Hawaii, about Hawaii's restrictive laws which basically disallow firearm possession and carry. In that case, the Ninth Circuit also upheld the Hawaii legal scheme.

In both cases, today SCOTUS vacated the Ninth Circuit decisions and remanded the cases to the Ninth Circuit for reconsideration based on the SCOTUS decision in the New York case. This is HUGE because in both cases the Ninth relied on an evaluation method that was shut down by SCOTUS in the New York decision.

As I have written before, the Ninth used its "two-step" approach, and a "balancing" of interests that relied on levels of judicial scrutiny, namely the very fuzzy "intermediate scrutiny," to decide both cases. In the New York case, SCOTUS said no more "two-step" and no more "interest balancing" with intermediate scrutiny.

So, the Ninth will now have to re-decide both Duncan and Young based on the SCOTUS mandate that it consider only the text of the Second Amendment as informed by history. In the Hawaii case, the history of founding era limitations on "keep and bear" were already decided by SCOTUS in the Heller and New York cases. About California's magazine ban, the Ninth will need to look into history in the founding era to see what history of magazine bans they can discover. Ha!

In these two cases, MSSA joined an amicus appearance by Gun Owners of America. MSSA's participation was important to GOA since MSSA is within the Ninth Circuit. Thanks to GOA for carrying this ball.

It will be most interesting to see how the Ninth Circuit wiggles and squirms in its reconsideration of both the Duncan and Young cases. There are still procedural games that the Ninth can play with these cases. We'll see.

Best wishes,

--
Gary Marbut, President
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
Author, *Gun Laws of Montana*
http://www.mtpublish.com