CA5 Denies En Banc Hearing, But A Majority Might Strike Down Machine Gun Bans

The Fifth Circuit voted 10-7 to deny rehearing *en banc*. However, 3 judges (Willet, Elrod, and Duncan) signed an opinion saying that two previous holdings, one upholding machine gun bans under the commerce power and the other saying that such bans don’t violate the second amendment, are “dubious.” Notably, Judges Willet and Elrod did not vote to grant rehearing, and despite their concerns, they thought the case was a bad vehicle.

Judge Ho dissented, calling the court’s precedent incompatible with modern SCOTUS decisions and pointing out that 9 of 17 judges on the circuit apparently do think their precedent is worth reconsidering.

Judge Oldham (joined by Judge Ho) dissented, saying “Our Court’s approach to the Second Amendment is historically bankrupt.”

Opinion:

https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/24/24-10633-CR1.pdf