En Banc 9th Circuit to Hear Gun Case, Though Neither Side Requested It
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled an en banc hearing in a case that applied the Second Amendment to the states, though neither side had sought additional review.
University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur Hellman told the Recorder that gun-control supporters on the San Francisco-based appeals court may have voted for rehearing to eliminate a circuit split and provide a reason for the U.S. Supreme Court to accept the case.
A 9th Circuit panel had ruled in April that the individual right to gun ownership found in the Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller applied to state and local governments. Heller had involved a Washington, D.C., resident and did not decide the incorporation issue.
The 9th Circuit ruling, Nordyke v. King, was in conflict with two other federal appeals court rulings, including one written by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the New York Times reports.
The 9th Circuit panel found the Second Amendment applied, but said it did not require the court to strike down an ordinance barring gun shows on a public fairground. The court reasoned that Heller had allowed gun restrictions in “sensitive places,” SCOTUSblog reports.
Neither side had sought en banc review. “I suppose they were both afraid of what could happen,” Hellman told the Recorder.
