Musings on the Latest SCOTUS / 2A Activities

[Bigslug]

So, this last week (late June 2026), we close out the 2025 SCOTUS term with the following

U.S. v. Hemani - SCOTUS rules 9-0 that smoking marijuana by itself is not sufficient justification to take away someone's 2A rights.

Wolford v. Lopez - SCOTUS rules 6-3 that Hawaii's attempt to restrict lawful CCW with their "vampire rule" (not being able to legally carry into any establishment that doesn't explicitly invite you in) is unconstitutional.

In between those two, Trump's DOJ threatened to drop what will probably be known as U.S. v. California aimed at stopping CA's "Glock ban" set to take effect July 1, as well as eliminating CA's "Safe Handgun Roster", if CA doesn't immediately drop both by June 30.

The YouTuber legal watch channels have been covering all of this. I've been tracking on Four Boxes Diner, Washington Gun Law, and Copper Jacket TV, but there are doubtless others if you want to look them up.

And yeah, I'm disappointed A.F. that SCOTUS didn't close this term by ruling on any of the state rifle and mag bans that are stacking up on their doorstep - HOWEVER - the language in the majority ruling for Wolford is setting clear precedent (in referencing Bruen, McDonald, & Heller) that a state can't play willy-nilly with the Bill of Rights based on local preference. Four Boxes Diner even did a supplemental video gleefully outlining how Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissenting opinion probably HELPS us by reinforcing that very thing. When that language gets applied to those platform bans - and maybe even the NFA - there's really not going to be any way they can continue to stand.

So, while I find it frustrating that the biggest legislative pains in our ass are being addressed at the speed of government, the above precedents may indicate that SCOTUS may be winding up to swing a pretty big wrecking ball against them next term.

My prediction after Bruen was that California, Hawaii, New York, etc..., doubling down on their anit-gun stupidity would ultimately be a good thing in that it would force these kinds of rulings. Am I Nostradamus?

Please discuss.

[CPJ 2.0]

It’s good news, on both cases. If anyone thinks a stoner is more dangerous than a drunk, you’ve never met either. With a lot of states making weed legal, uncle sugar needs to just follow suit.

Thankfully SCOTUS is doing good, because we know the elected servants will NOT. I think though, the tide is turning. There’s a lot of gun owners that are sick of their poop and lies. Hopefully they will stay home or vote Mickey Moose in place of the incumbent douchebags who “tried our best but the other side blocked us!”
It’ll be painful to take the L to the blue team, but it’s the only way any change will take place.
But that’s not gonna happen here in the real world. There are still too many “but it’s better than the other side!” voters that will prevent that from really happening. Too many who are still swallowing the mushy turds the politicians are selling as soft serve ice cream. Too many “just wait till we get the house, senate, and the president on the red team! Then we will make things happen!”


But at least The Cheesus is touting nationwide ccw. So that’s something I guess. Something that has zero chance of passing, but it is nice to have that offered right at the midterms. Something for the soft serve crowd to latch ahold of and vote the SOS back into office.

[Bigslug]

Hee! I'm about as much a "It's better than the other side!" voter as you're likely to find. I'm WAY more about voting AGAINST blue than voting FOR red.

But if there is indeed a pendulum swinging to the right, the left going EVEN FURTHER left is probably what's pushing it. I've spent years wishing for a "Stay the eff out of your lives" party who believes the functions government should be limited to little more than keeping the barbarian hordes on the other side of our borders and cholera out of the water supply. As it stands, I think anybody who works, pays taxes, and isn't looking everywhere for a possible handout has to be taking a hard look at both sides and deciding that Team Blue ain't offering them much.

But my last couple of votes were largely driven by who was going to be picking SCOTUS justices. I realized long ago that the problems of the California legislature were not likely to be solved by any action within California. Not that my vote made any difference to the electoral college, but my thought is that there are a lot of folks around the country who are like-minded on the subject of being more "one nation" - at least as far as the major Bill of Rights stuff goes.

As to nationwide CCW. . .my sense is that might very well be our destiny at this point. To my initial comment on the deep blue states doubling down on their stupid - their incessant attempts to infringe within whatever framework they're given is just going to give more strength to the argument that permit systems are open to all manner of discriminatory, exclusionary, and corrupt shenanigans. If there IS going to be any kind of permit process, it's going to become LESS onerous than renewing one's driver's license, not more. That's where the recent language seems to be taking us, anyway.

[Freezer]

We may be making some progress against the left wing states but they will not give up without a fight. In Californiastan they are making ammo the issue. If you can't outlaw the gun tax and regulate the ammo. Same effect.

[Bigslug]

We may be making some progress against the left wing states but they will not give up without a fight. In Californiastan they are making ammo the issue. If you can't outlaw the gun tax and regulate the ammo. Same effect.

Indeed. The latest tack seems to be headed toward defining the accessories (which would include ammo) as "arms" in order to shut down that kind of semantic B.S.

And indeed, the left seems to be doing us a favor - we've got a county here in Cali looking to ban mounted flashlights, lasers, and red dots from their CCW's. How they plan to argue against positive target identification and better accuracy is beyond me.

For that matter, why we haven't thrown handicap and age discrimination against the CA handgun roster in defense of newer, optic-ready handgun models is ALSO beyond me.

[breamfisher]

Is it true one county is trying to ban 1911s and 2011s for CCW? Maybe the same one with the flashlights and red dots?

[Zorba]

I'm just glad I got the fudge out of that horrible state 9+ years ago!

[Bigslug]

The very same.

But in other news, it seems Wolford is indeed already being used to get the ball rolling in the 3rd Circuit to prosecute the Cheeseman case (NJ's AW ban)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjBkOFGqFOU

[Bigslug]

And still more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSlZrjkVAlE

[Japhy]

SCOTUS has made some significant favorable rulings over the past few years. But if the hard left wins the next round, dumps the filibuster, adds 4 justices, makes PR and DC states guaranteeing 4 Dem or socialist senators gun ownership ends. The law is whatever the supreme says it is. There is no check on the supreme court.

[Bigslug]

California's shenanigan-filled reply to the DOJ lawsuit: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap ... 0.19.0.pdf

William Kirk's summary/interpretation of same: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1pCPJFU3w&t=309s

Ultimately, this episode is probably geared to create sub-SCOTUS arguments that will provide SCOTUS with fuel for even more REALLY CLEAR language on the matter to be handed down this fall. Not a bad strategy, if indeed that is the strategy.

[Bigslug]

And the Fed-DOJ responding - in pretty firm language - to CA's weaseling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w74pfiC5IHo

And some more learned discussion on what is likely to be the wind-up for the upcoming SCOTUS arguments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f5VqfAuIQ4

[Bigslug]

WOO - FREAKIN' - HOO!

3rd Circuit strikes down the NJ rifle and mag bans! Cheeseman V. Platkin

Great rundown by William Kirk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAG_unoDGGY

Timing could not be better. Language probably could not be better either. HAPPY DANCE!

[GrapeApe]

7th circuit upheld the IL ban though.

[breamfisher]

WOO - FREAKIN' - HOO!

3rd Circuit strikes down the NJ rifle and mag bans! Cheeseman V. Platkin

Great rundown by William Kirk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAG_unoDGGY

Timing could not be better. Language probably could not be better either. HAPPY DANCE!

I didn't watch the William Kirk video, so this may be redundant. If so, sorry, but I found it interesting 2 of the judges who struck down the ban were Biden appointees.

https://x.com/i/status/2078163894154010946

[Bigslug]

7th circuit upheld the IL ban though.

The timing of that is probably good too. It gives us a circuit split that SCOTUS will HAVE to step in on right before their upcoming next term, and like I've been saying since the deep blue states have been doing their shake and shimmy dance to find loopholes in Heller and Bruen, the more and more blatantly stupid arguments they stand up in plain view to be knocked down, the better. In one of his recently publications, Justice Alito indicated that he was a little pissed at NY's post-Bruen shenanigans and their behavior "should not be countenanced". It is to be hoped that Wolford and Cheeseman are a windup to a really big bowling ball getting rolled. We may ultimately be thanking NJ, NY, IL, CA, HI, etc..., for advancing the timetable.

I believe this also gives us a circuit split on the mag ban issue (CA's 9th vs. NJ's 3rd), and SCOTUS opted to hold onto the CA case (Duncan v. Bonta), probably pending this 3rd Circuit ruling in Cheeseman. Even more opportunity for clarity on the whole "What part of 'shall not be infringed' are you having trouble with'" discussion.

As to Bream's post about the Biden-appointed judges ruling our way, I've got to dig in and magnify the teeny-tiny print, but that speaks well that there are some who still play by the rules and don't legislate from the bench. I sincerely hope Gavin Newsom's trouser-soiling runs smack into one of his water restrictions when he goes to take a shower.

[Bigslug]

I didn't watch the William Kirk video, so this may be redundant. If so, sorry, but I found it interesting 2 of the judges who struck down the ban were Biden appointees.

Some pretty good reasoning from Mark Smith on this, and why even some on the left are sick of this crap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTOtfdoYrYc

One of the Biden judges in this case worked on the criminal defense side. One of the rare areas where I think all of us here would disagree with her competitors on the prosecution side would be the phenomenon of, "We THINK this guy raped ten women, murdered 15 children, and sold 18 tons of fentanyl, but we can't prove it. We DID however catch him with a 14" barrel on a home-built AR=15 and a couple 30 round P-Mags, so let's lock him up for the next 50 years on that alone."

Another good point he makes is that if Justices Roberts and Barrett are feeling wishy-washy on this topic and not wanting to be seen as being political, right-wing biased, or Team Trump, any reason for that just went away; "Gun control sucks" is now a bi-partisan ruling.

[Elk Creek]

We may be making some progress against the left wing states but they will not give up without a fight. In Californiastan they are making ammo the issue. If you can't outlaw the gun tax and regulate the ammo. Same effect.

That’s what Colorado’s doing currently. 6% additional tax on ALL firearms related stuff, ammo, guns, parts, all reloading ect on top of any and all state and local taxes. The Scheels in Johnstown is up to almost 16% tax if you buy guns and ammo.

Now the goat herders just enacted a couple new abominations. If you order any gun stuff through the internet that isn’t NFA covered or needs an ffl you are required to have it shipped “restricted” and now have to sign to get your parcel, at a nice price increase too….

[shotgunshooter3]

AND most of these CO laws pass by less than a 60% majority popular vote. CO is the most textbook case of Tyranny of the Majority I can think of in modern politics.

[Elk Creek]

AND most of these CO laws pass by less than a 60% majority popular vote. CO is the most textbook case of Tyranny of the Majority I can think of in modern politics.

Yup! Chaps may hide!

[Justsomedude]

Anyone that has faith in our judicial system and SCOTUS shouldn't care what political leaning the Justices are IF they're doing their job as they're supposed to. I personally do not.

[Bigslug]

We may be making some progress against the left wing states but they will not give up without a fight. In Californiastan they are making ammo the issue. If you can't outlaw the gun tax and regulate the ammo. Same effect.

That’s what Colorado’s doing currently. 6% additional tax on ALL firearms related stuff, ammo, guns, parts, all reloading ect on top of any and all state and local taxes. The Scheels in Johnstown is up to almost 16% tax if you buy guns and ammo.

Now the goat herders just enacted a couple new abominations. If you order any gun stuff through the internet that isn’t NFA covered or needs an ffl you are required to have it shipped “restricted” and now have to sign to get your parcel, at a nice price increase too….

The language in Wolford is being used against the mag and platform bans, and I have to think that using it against this kind of taxation can't be far behind. A product-specific tax in lieu of an outright ban is just another form of ban, and is clearly illustrative of SS3's "Tyranny of the Majority".

[Elk Creek]

We may be making some progress against the left wing states but they will not give up without a fight. In Californiastan they are making ammo the issue. If you can't outlaw the gun tax and regulate the ammo. Same effect.

That’s what Colorado’s doing currently. 6% additional tax on ALL firearms related stuff, ammo, guns, parts, all reloading ect on top of any and all state and local taxes. The Scheels in Johnstown is up to almost 16% tax if you buy guns and ammo.

Now the goat herders just enacted a couple new abominations. If you order any gun stuff through the internet that isn’t NFA covered or needs an ffl you are required to have it shipped “restricted” and now have to sign to get your parcel, at a nice price increase too….

The language in Wolford is being used against the mag and platform bans, and I have to think that using it against this kind of taxation can't be far behind. A product-specific tax in lieu of an outright ban is just another form of ban, and is clearly illustrative of SS3's "Tyranny of the Majority".

It’s straight up bovine excrement! Enact laws they know are crap that our taxes will have to defend.

[JunkCollector]

That’s what Colorado’s doing currently. 6% additional tax on ALL firearms related stuff, ammo, guns, parts, all reloading ect on top of any and all state and local taxes. The Scheels in Johnstown is up to almost 16% tax if you buy guns and ammo.

Now the goat herders just enacted a couple new abominations. If you order any gun stuff through the internet that isn’t NFA covered or needs an ffl you are required to have it shipped “restricted” and now have to sign to get your parcel, at a nice price increase too….

The language in Wolford is being used against the mag and platform bans, and I have to think that using it against this kind of taxation can't be far behind. A product-specific tax in lieu of an outright ban is just another form of ban, and is clearly illustrative of SS3's "Tyranny of the Majority".

It’s straight up bovine excrement! Enact laws they know are crap that our taxes will have to defend.

IIRC
Our state has tried similar and been sued under the Pittman Robertson act and caved so they wouldn't loose all federal monies.

[Zorba]

Our state has tried similar and been sued under the Pittman Robertson act and caved so they wouldn't loose all federal monies.

They're probably pretty loose with the money anyway...