A lawsuit in California filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and two individuals is drawing the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The suit was appealed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the state’s 10-day waiting period laws enforced against law-abiding gun owners after they pass a rigorous background check, according to Ammoland.com. The Calguns Foundation also joined the suit.
Last month, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra waived his right to reply to the petition. However, on Sept. 29 the Supreme Court ordered California to reply, and on Oct. 24, the Supreme Court granted the state an extension until December 1.
“This is not the first time the Ninth Circuit has played ‘fast and loose’ with the Court’s Second Amendment jurisprudence to fend off constitutional claims – nor will it be the last if this Court does not step in,” the brief said according to Ammoland.
And in another brief, former California Deputy Attorney General Raymond M. DiGuiseppe argued on behalf of a coalition of Second Amendment advocacy groups — including Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, Gun Owners of California, and Madison Society Foundation — that Supreme Court review is necessary in this case “to reestablish the rule of law and halt the trend of judicial obstructionism” that is “jeopardizing” the constitutional protections of the Second Amendment.
In 2016, the Ninth Circuit curiously ruled that a person legally carrying a concealed handgun as he buys another gun at retail, and who passes a further background check, needs to be “cooled off” for another 10 days before exercising their Second Amendment right and taking possession of a constitutionally-protected firearm.
Brandon Combs, an individual plaintiff in the case as well as the executive director of institutional plaintiff The Calguns Foundation, said that the briefs made excellent arguments and further supported the petition for review. “The Supreme Court has everything that it needs in a case with an excellent trial record teed up here to save the Second Amendment from hostile lower courts.”
“We are grateful to these amici organizations and their counsel for their support of this case and standing up for constitutional principles,” concluded Combs.
Adding support for the case, multiple briefs have been filed in support of the petitioners, encouraging the Supreme Court to grant review and overturn the Ninth Circuit’s ruling.
“We are pleased that other groups have recognized the serious flaws in the Ninth Circuit’s approach,” explained Erik S. Jaffe, the petitioners’ Supreme Court counsel. “The results-driven analysis in the opinion below not only does violence to the Second Amendment, but does violence to the rule of law and respect for the courts. We are hopeful that the Justices, whatever their views on the scope of the Second Amendment, will recognize that the decision below is well out of bounds of any reasonable reading of Supreme Court precedent or standards for intermediate scrutiny and will take the necessary steps to ensure the fair administration of justice in Second Amendment cases.”
In 2014, Federal District Court Judge Anthony W. Ishii — nominated to the bench by then-President Clinton — held that California’s waiting period laws were unconstitutional as applied to three categories of gun purchasers after undertaking significant discovery, depositions, and a three-day bench trial.
To view the Silvester petition to the Supreme Court click here.