SCOTUS Issues Orders On Major Gun Rights Cases

The first case that was examined was Garland v. Range. Bryan Range sued the government because he became a prohibited person after pleading guilty to lying about his income to obtain food stamps. The Court gave Range three years of probation and stripped him of his gun rights for life. He claimed that the punishment was inconsistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearms regulation. The lower Court decided for the government, but the full bench of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Range.

SCOTUS granted certiorari to the case, vacated the decision, and remanded (GVR) the suit back to the Third Circuit, considering the United States v. Rahimi Supreme Court opinion. In Rahimi, SCOTUS said that a person could be temporarily disarmed if they posed a danger. Range was not convicted of a violent crime, and no one claims he is a danger to himself or others, so it will be interesting to see how the Third Circuit weighs the Rahimi opinion in the rehearing.

The second case that met the same fate due to Rahimi was United States. v. Daniels. This case challenges the federal prohibition of drug users owning guns. In April 2022, police stopped Patrick Daniels’ car because it had no license plate. Police reported that Daniel’s car smelled of marijuana. This smell gave the police probable cause to search the man’s vehicle. Police uncovered marijuana and two firearms.

A jury found Daniels guilty and sentenced him to 46 months in prison for being in possession of a gun while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance. Daniels appealed the guilty verdict, claiming the law violated the Second Amendment. The District Court would rule against the man, but the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision.