Kolbe v. Hogan

813 F.3d 160

Stephen V. KOLBE; Andrew C. Turner; Wink's Sporting Goods, Incorporated; Atlantic Guns, Incorporated; Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Incorporated ; Maryland Shall Issue, Incorporated; Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association, Incorporated; National Shooting Sports Foundation, Incorporated; Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, Incorporated, Plaintiffs–Appellants,

and

Shawn J. Tardy; Matthew Godwin, Plaintiffs,

v.Lawrence J. HOGAN, Jr., in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Maryland; Brian E. Frosh, in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of Maryland; Colonel William M. Pallozzi, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of State Police and Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Maryland State Police, Defendants–Appellees.

State of West Virginia: State of Alabama; State of Alaska; State of Arizona; State of Florida; State of Idaho; State of Kansas; State of Louisiana; State of Michigan; State of Missouri; State of Montana; State of Nebraska; State of New Mexico; State of North Dakota; State of Oklahoma; State of South Carolina; State of South Dakota; State of Texas; State of Utah; State of Wyoming; Commonwealth of Kentucky; Traditionalist Youth Network, LLC; National Rifle Association of America; CRPA Foundation ; Gun Owners of California ; Colorado State Shooting Association ; Idaho State Rifle & Pistol Association; Illinois State Rifle Association; Kansas State Rifle Association; League of Kentucky Sportsmen, Inc.; Nevada Firearms Coalition; Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs; New Mexico Shooting Sports Association; New York Rifle & Pistol Association; Texas State Rifle Association ; Vermont Federation of Sportsman's Clubs; Vermont Rifle & Pistol Association; Gun Owners of America, Inc. ; Gun Owners Foundation; U.S. Justice Foundation; The Lincoln Institute For Research and Education; The Abraham Lincoln Foundation for Public Policy Research, Inc.; Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund; Institute on the Constitution ; Congress of Racial Equality; National Center For Public Policy Research; Project 21 ; Pink Pistols; Women Against Gun Control ; The Disabled Sportsmen of North America; Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund ; Law Enforcement Action Network ; Law Enforcement Alliance of America ; International Law Enforcement Educators And Trainers Association; Western States Sheriffs' Association, Amici Supporting Appellants,

Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence; Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence, Incorporated; Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence; State of New York; State of California; State of Connecticut; State of Hawaii; State of Illinois; State of Iowa; State of Massachusetts; State of Oregon; District of Columbia, Amici Supporting Appellees.

No. 14–1945.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: March 25, 2015.

Decided: Feb. 4, 2016.

ARGUED:John Parker Sweeney, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Matthew John Fader, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees. ON BRIEF:T. Sky Woodward, James W. Porter, III, Marc A. Nardone, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Douglas F. Gansler, Attorney General of Maryland, Jennifer L. Katz, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellees. Kyle J. Bristow, Bristow Law, PLLC, Clarkston, Michigan; Jason Van Dyke, The Van Dyke Law Firm, PLLC, Plano, Texas, for Amicus Traditionalist Youth Network, LLC. Patrick Morrisey, Attorney General, Elbert Lin, Solicitor General, Julie Marie Blake, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of West Virginia, Charleston, West Virginia, for Amicus State of West Virginia; Luther Strange, Attorney General of Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama, for Amicus State of Alabama; Michael C. Geraghty, Attorney General of Alaska, Juneau, Alaska, for Amicus State of Alaska; Thomas C. Horne, Attorney General of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, for Amicus State of Arizona; Pam Bondi, Attorney General of Florida, Tallahassee, Florida, for Amicus State of Florida; Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General of Idaho, Boise, Idaho, for Amicus State of Idaho; Derek Schmidt, Attorney General of Kansas, Topeka, Kansas, for Amicus State of Kansas; James D. Caldwell, Attorney General of Louisiana, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Amicus State of Louisiana; Bill Schuette, Attorney General of Michigan, Lansing, Michigan, for Amicus State of Michigan; Chris Koster, Attorney General of Missouri, Jefferson City, Missouri, for Amicus State of Missouri; Timothy C. Fox, Attorney General of Montana, Helena, Montana, for Amicus State of Montana; Jon Bruning, Attorney General of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, for Amicus State of Nebraska; Gary King, Attorney General of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico, for Amicus State of New Mexico; Wayne Stenehjem, Attorney General of North Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota, for Amicus State of North Dakota; E. Scott Pruitt Attorney General of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for Amicus State of Oklahoma; Alan Wilson, Attorney General of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, for Amicus State of South Carolina; Martin J. Jackley, Attorney General of South Dakota, Pierre, South Dakota, for Amicus State of South Dakota; Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas, Austin, Texas, for Amicus State of Texas; Sean Reyes, Attorney General of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, for Amicus State of Utah; Peter K. Michael, Attorney General of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Amicus State of Wyoming; Jack Conway, Attorney General of Kentucky, Frankfort, Kentucky, for Amicus Commonwealth of Kentucky. Charles J. Cooper, David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Amicus National Rifle Association of America, Inc. C.D. Michel, Clinton B. Monfort, Anna M. Barvir, Michel & Associates, P.C., Long Beach, California, for Amici CRPA Foundation, Gun Owners of California, Colorado State Shooting Association, Idaho State Rifle & Pistol Association, Illinois State Rifle Association, Kansas State Rifle Association, League of Kentucky Sportsmen, Inc., Nevada Firearms Coalition, Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Texas State Rifle Association, Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, and Vermont Rifle & Pistol Association. Michael Connelly, U.S. Justice Foundation, Ramona, California, for Amicus U.S. Justice Foundation; Robert J. Olson, Herbert W. Titus, William J. Olson, John S. Miles, Jeremiah L. Morgan, William J. Olson, P.C., Vienna, Virginia, for Amici Gun Owners of America, Inc., Gun Owners Foundation, U.S. Justice Foundation, The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education, The Abraham Lincoln Foundation for Public Policy Research, Inc., Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Institute on the Constitution. Brian S. Koukoutchos, Mandeville, Louisiana; James B. Astrachan, Astrachan Gunst Thomas, P.C., Baltimore, Maryland, for Amici Congress of Racial Equality, National Center for Public Policy Research, Project 21, Pink Pistols, Women Against Gun Control, and The Disabled Sportsmen of North America. Dan M. Peterson, Dan M. Peterson, PLLC, Fairfax, Virginia, for Amici The Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Law Enforcement Action Network, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, and Western States Sheriffs' Association. Jonathan K. Baum, Chicago, Illinois, Mark T. Ciani, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, New York, New York, for Amici Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence, Inc. Jonathan E. Lowy, Kelly Sampson, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Washington, D.C.; Elliott Schulder, Suzan F. Charlton, Amit R. Vora, Catlin Meade, Stephen Kiehl, Covington & Burling LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Brady Center To Prevent Gun Violence. Barbara D. Underwood, Solicitor General, Anisha S. Dasgupta, Deputy Solicitor General, Claude S. Platton, Assistant Solicitor General, Eric T. Schneiderman, Attorney General of the State of New York, for Amicus State of New York; Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General of California, Sacramento, California, for Amicus State of California; George Jepsen, Attorney General of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, for Amicus State of Connecticut; Russell A. Suzuki, Attorney General of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, for Amicus State of Hawaii; Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, for Amicus State of Illinois; Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, for Amicus State of Iowa; Martha Coakley, Attorney General of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts, for Amicus Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General of Oregon, Salem, Oregon, for Amicus State of Oregon; Karl A. Racine, Attorney General of The District of Columbia, Washington, D.C., for Amicus The District of Columbia.

Before TRAXLER, Chief Judge, and KING and AGEE, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded by published opinion. Chief Judge TRAXLER wrote the opinion for the court as to Parts I, II, III, V, and VI, in which Judge AGEE joined. Judge AGEE wrote separately as to Part IV. Judge KING wrote an opinion dissenting as to Part III and concurring in the judgment as to Parts IV and V. Chief Judge TRAXLER wrote a dissenting opinion as to Part IV.

TRAXLER, Chief Judge, wrote the opinion for the court as to Parts I, II, and III, in which Judge AGEE joined.

In April 2013, Maryland passed the Firearm Safety Act ("FSA"), which, among other things, bans law-abiding citizens, with the exception of retired law enforcement officers, from possessing the vast majority of semi-automatic rifles commonly kept by several million American citizens for defending their families and homes and other lawful purposes. Plaintiffs raise a number of...