The Federalist Raises the Supreme Court Conundrum

On January 27, Shawn Fleetwood revealed an article in The Federalist. Entitled “SCOTUS Holds The Key To Stopping Virginia Democrats’ Gun Management Gambit. Will They Use It?”

When Democrats locked up a trifecta in Virginia in early January, the writing was on the wall for each gun proprietor and Second Modification advocate within the Previous Dominion. Gun-grabbers within the Senate and Home of Delegates have been champing on the bit since Republican Glenn Youngkin succeeded anti-gun Democrat Ralph Northam as governor in 2022.

Abigail Spanberger labored with Mothers Demand Motion earlier than she entered politics in 2018. Now that she has moved into the Government Mansion, lawmakers are wanting to get again to violating the constitutional rights of their fellow Virginians.

On Monday, January 26, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee superior a number of 2A-related payments.

The Federalist article focuses on Senate Invoice 749, a brand new assault firearm 1/large-capacity journal ban launched by District 37’s Senator, Saddam Azlan Salim.

S.B. 749 is a portmanteau invoice. It consists of bans and different restrictions on semiautomatic firearms. This consists of rifles, pistols, and shotguns, in addition to limits on journal capacities. 2

In Fleetwood’s article, my pal Cam Edwards famous S.B. 749 differs from extra mainstream payments of this type. Whereas any of the banned weapons possessed on or earlier than July 1, 2026, are grandfathered in, non-compliant magazines are usually not. S.B. 749 is a confiscatory ban just like Rhode Island’s prohibition (See Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island).

I ought to point out Cam has some pores and skin on this specific sport: He’s a gun proprietor in Virginia.

Because the title suggests, the Supreme Courtroom might shut down a Virginia ban. In reality, it might shut down each ban, together with California’s, which dates again to 1989. It might additionally shut down magazine-capacity limitations; perhaps even rule magazines are elements, not equipment.

Reinforcing Bruen and firming again Rahimi, the Supreme Courtroom might rule that acceptable analogies needs to be at the least comparable in scope and function and drawn from the Founding interval or the years across the ratification of the Fourteenth Modification. We’re speaking statewide prohibitions on total lessons of firearms.

The courtroom might render a really vital determination on whether or not or not younger American adults, ages 18-20, take pleasure in the identical civil liberties as different adults 21 or older. The ridiculous limitation didn’t even come into play on the federal degree till 1968 and nonetheless applies solely to transfers made by federally licensed retailers.

Males 18 years of age and older have been obliged to carry out armed militia service for greater than 233 years. There was by no means any limitation on the kind of weapon they is likely to be ordered to make use of except for their required musket.

Sure, the Supreme Courtroom can do all of this. Shawn Fleetwood and the Federalist pose the all-important query: Will they?

That’s an excellent query.

In a December 2025 press launch, the Division of Justice famous: “The Supreme Courtroom has repeatedly acknowledged that the Second Modification just isn’t ‘a second-class proper.’ And over the previous twenty years, the Supreme Courtroom has acknowledged that the Second Modification is a elementary, particular person constitutional proper and has taken a number of alternatives to strengthen Second Modification protections for bizarre, law-abiding residents.”

But the courtroom appears to be one of many worst offenders. For years, the courtroom has ignored or sidestepped lots of of circumstances, a few of which have spent years in litigation and have wide-ranging impacts.

In different circumstances, the courtroom has merely kicked the can down the street with a GVR3, which means the case has to undergo the whole district-appellate courtroom course of once more. The circuit spends years on this rerun and normally delivers the identical determination that bought the case despatched again within the first place.

Yearly, the Supreme Courtroom will get way more requests than it may possibly deal with. This was why Congress handed the Judiciary Act of 1925, giving the courtroom sole management over the choice of circumstances to be heard.

Contemplating there are normally a number of circumstances involving any constitutional concern, the Supreme Courtroom has the facility to mix the circumstances and restrict them to a particular matter, akin to gun rights for younger adults, weapon bans, restoration of Second Modification rights for felons, or dropping the marijuana prohibition.

On this manner, the courtroom might hear 2-3 circumstances per time period whereas doing the nation an enormous favor by answering questions that affect lives day-after-day.

After all, if these delays and deferrals actually are as a result of courtroom eager to dodge uncomfortable circumstances, all bets are off, and we’ll have to influence Congress to go a brand new regulation both limiting the courtroom’s discretion or creating a brand new courtroom that handles problems with Invoice of Rights-related constitutionality.

Notes:

1Virginia doesn’t name them assault weapons; it calls them assault firearms. Maybe to keep away from complicated weapons with rocks, tire irons, fists, or any of the myriad different weapons utilized in assaults. In Virginia regulation, “‘assault firearm’ means any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol which expels single or a number of projectiles by motion of an explosion of a flamable materials and is supplied on the time of the offense with {a magazine} which can maintain greater than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the producer to accommodate a silencer or geared up with a folding inventory.” (Virginia Code §18.2-308.2:2)

2S.B. 749 would scale back journal capacities from 20 to 10 rounds.

3A single motion that Grants certiorari; Vacates the prior ruling; and Remands the case again to the district.

About Invoice Cawthon

Invoice Cawthon first grew to become a gun proprietor 55 years in the past. He has been an lively advocate for People’ civil liberties for greater than a decade. He’s the data director for the Second Modification Society of Texas.