Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Virginia Duncan, et al. v. Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 23-55805 · judgment March 20, 2025
(petition-stage, structural)
Well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Questions presented
This Court held in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), that states may not ban arms that “law-abiding citizens” “typically possess[] … for lawful purposes.” Id. at 625. And it reiterated in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), that “the Second Amendment protects the possession and use of weapons that are ‘in common use at the time.’” Id. at 21 (quoting Heller, 554 U.S. at 627). California nonetheless persists in banning feeding devices capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition, even though tens of millions of law-abiding Americans have long lawfully owned hundreds of millions of these devices as integral components of legal firearms. Adding insult to injury, California’s ban applies retrospectively, requiring citizens to dispossess themselves of lawfully acquired property without any compensation from the state. This Court previously GVR’d in light of Bruen, but rather than follow this Court’s marching orders, a divided en banc panel once again upheld the ban. In doing so, the Ninth Circuit not only doubled down on its pre-Bruen precedent, but reached the remarkable conclusion that California’s sweeping ban on common arms does not even implicate the Second Amendment. The questions presented are:
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Whether a ban on the possession of exceedingly common ammunition feeding devices violates the Second Amendment.
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Whether a law dispossessing citizens, without compensation, of property that they lawfully acquired and long possessed without incident violates the Takings Clause.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Erin E. Murphy
Clement & Murphy, PLLC
For respondent
Mica Louise Moore
California Department of Justice
Proceedings
- Aug 11 2026Supplemental Brief of Bonta, Att'y Gen. of CA submitted.
- Aug 03 2026Supplemental brief of petitioners Virginia Duncan, et al. filed.
- Jun 29 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/29/2026.
- Jun 22 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2026.
- Jun 15 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/18/2026.
- Jun 08 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/11/2026.
- Jun 01 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/4/2026.
- May 26 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/28/2026.
- May 18 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2026.
- May 11 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/14/2026.
- Apr 27 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/1/2026.
- Apr 23 2026Supplemental Brief of Bonta, Att'y Gen. of CA submitted.
- Apr 20 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/24/2026.
- Apr 13 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2026.
- Mar 30 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/2/2026.
- Mar 23 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/27/2026.
- Mar 16 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/20/2026.
- Mar 13 2026Supplemental brief of respondent Rob Bonta, Attorney General of California, filed. (Distributed)
- Mar 11 2026Supplemental Brief of Petitioners Virginia Duncan, et al. filed.
- Mar 02 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 3/6/2026.
- Feb 23 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/27/2026.
- Feb 13 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/20/2026.
- Jan 20 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/23/2026.
- Jan 12 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/16/2026.
- Jan 05 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
- Dec 08 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/12/2025.
- Nov 18 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/5/2025.
- Nov 12 2025Rescheduled.
- Nov 05 2025DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/21/2025.
- Nov 05 2025Reply of petitioners Virginia Duncan, et al. filed. (Distributed)
- Oct 20 2025Brief of respondent Bonta, Att'y Gen. of CA in opposition filed.
- Sep 18 2025Brief amicus curiae of National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. filed.
- Sep 18 2025Brief amicus curiae of National Association for Gun Rights filed.
- Sep 18 2025Brief amici curiae of Gun Owners of America, et al. filed.
- Sep 18 2025Brief amici curiae of Montana, et al. filed.
- Sep 17 2025Brief amici curiae of National African American Gun Association, Inc., et al. filed.
- Sep 12 2025Brief amici curiae of Second Amendment Foundation, et al. filed.
- Aug 21 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 20, 2025.
- Aug 20 2025Motion to extend the time to file a response from September 18, 2025 to October 20, 2025, submitted to The Clerk.
- Aug 15 2025Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 18, 2025)
- Jul 11 2025Application (24A1191) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until August 17, 2025.
- Jul 03 2025Application (24A1191) to extend further the time from July 18, 2025 to August 17, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.
- Jun 05 2025Application (24A1191) granted by Justice Kagan extending the time to file until July 18, 2025.
- May 30 2025Application (24A1191) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 18, 2025 to July 18, 2025, submitted to Justice Kagan.