Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court declined to take up a constitution challenge to the Connecticut law banning certain semi-automatic weapons and magazines passed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Plaintiffs in Shew v. Malloy had hoped the court would rule in the case, clarifying Second Amendment questions remaining following the high court’s 2008 Heller decision.
Meanwhile, on capitol hill, the Senate took up dueling measures introduced following the worst mass-shooting in U.S. history. Four measures – two from both parties – were introduced, none of which reached the 60-vote threshold required for passage.
A fifth measure is still being crafted by moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Her bill would bar people on the government’s no-fly list from gun purchases, a significantly smaller number of people than the government’s terror watch list. Collins’ measure also sets protections in place for anyone wrongly placed on the no-fly list. Regardless of actions in the Senate, House Speaker Paul Ryan has made it know that there’s little chance any of the Senate measures will get a vote there.
