David Hardy

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A judge in the Southern District of New York has just struck down the New York permitting requirement of “good moral character.”

“In sum, having considered Defendants’ proffered historical materials, and applying the standard set in Bruen, the Court determines that the magnitude of discretion afforded to New York City licensing officials under subsections (a)(2) and (a)(9) of Section 10-303 of the New York City Administrative Code and the pre-December 16, 2022 versions of Sections 3-03 and 5-10 of Title 38 of the RCNY, empowering them to evaluate an applicant’s “good moral character” and “good cause” in deciding whether to
Continue Reading Victory in New York

All but the government’s reply have been filed, and can be seen here. I haven’t read all, but two stand out of those I have read. The brief of the Bronx Defenders Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, here, documents how little due process is given by courts issuing restraining orders. David Kopel’s brief, here, does a good job of explaining how the Court can get out of the trap planned by the government.

The government must have seen, early on, that Rahimi was the perfect vehicle to attack Bruen. The defendant is a
Continue Reading US v. Rahimi briefs

They’ve recently released a book, “To Trust the People with Arms: The Supreme Court and the Second Amendment,” and will be presenting on it at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus(and remotely, on Zoom) on October 12, 4:30 PM Eastern Time. You can register here.

It’s being sponsored by Capital University Law School, and should be good for two free hours of MCLE. I’ll be signing up, every reason in the world to get Second Amendment CLE hours!
Continue Reading Bob Cottrol & Brannon Denning presentation in Ohio

9th Circuit case, here. Case dismissed as moot, but it’s illustrative of abuse potential. California law forbids firearms possession by anyone subject to ANY form of restraining order (domestic or not). This couple had a crazy neighbor, who filed for a restraining order on the basis that the couple’s security cam was invading her privacy. Some sloppy judge granted it, and so they wound up as prohibited possessors for years.
Continue Reading Illustration of California law

Right here.

Interesting — one charge is possession by a prohibited person, a user of unlawful drugs, but the other two are of lying on the 4473. There has been some dispute over whether the drug user prohibited person category is unconstitutional under Bruen, but questions are now also posed (1) is it constitutional to punish false statement under Bruen and (2) would it make any difference if the false statement concerned a prohibited person status that was unconstitutional?
Continue Reading Hunter Biden indictment

In Junior Sports Magazines v. Bonta, it today struck down a California ban on on advertising firearms in ways that might be attractive to minors.

“[T]his case is about whether California can ban a truthful ad about firearms used legally by adults and minors–just because the ad “reasonably appears to be attractive to minors.””

Congrats to winner Don Kilmer and Carl Michel…
Continue Reading Win in the 9th Circuit

The Fifth Circuit strikes down the federal ban on gun possession by marihuana users. The closest framing-period analog to smoking pot would have been getting drunk, and while early Americans had a rich history of getting drunk, and of arms possession, they had no legal restrictions on doing both simultaneously.

The U.S. District Court for Colorado granted a temporary injunction against enforcing that state’s new ban on firearm sales to 18-to-21 year olds.

The Illinois Supreme Court sustained that state’s new gun restrictions 4-3. Strangely, the restrictions weren’t challenged on a 2A basis.

The Florida Court of Appeals
Continue Reading A busy 2A week!