No. 13-_________ ================================================================ In The Supreme Court of the United States --------------------------------- --------------------------------- JOHN M. DRAKE, GREGORY C. GALLAHER, LENNY S. SALERNO, FINLEY FENTON, SECOND AMENDMENT FOUNDATION, INC., AND ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY RIFLE & PISTOL CLUBS, INC., Petitioners, v. EDWARD A. JEREJIAN, THOMAS D. MANAHAN, JOSEPH R. FUENTES, ROBERT JONES, RICHARD COOK, AND JOHN JAY HOFFMAN, Respondents. --------------------------------- --------------------------------- On Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Third Circuit --------------------------------- --------------------------------- PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI --------------------------------- --------------------------------- DAVID D. JENSEN ALAN GURA DAVID JENSEN PLLC Counsel of Record 111 John Street, Suite 420 GURA & POSSESSKY, PLLC New York, New York 10038 105 Oronoco Street, 212.380.6615 Suite 305 [email protected] Alexandria, Virginia 22314 703.835.9085 [email protected] ================================================================ COCKLE LEGAL BRIEFS (800) 225-6964 WWW.COCKLELEGALBRIEFS.COM i QUESTIONS PRESENTED The Second Amendment “guarantee[s] the indi- vidual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.” District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 592 (2008). But in accordance with “the overriding philosophy of [New Jersey’s] Legislature . to limit the use of guns as much as possible,” State v. Valentine, 124 N.J. Super. 425, 427, 307 A.2d 617, 619 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1973), New Jersey law bars all but a small handful of individuals show- ing “justifiable need” from carrying a handgun for self-defense, N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-4(c). The federal appellate courts, and state courts of last resort, are split on the question of whether the Second Amendment secures a right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense. The Second, Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Circuits, and the supreme courts of Illinois, Idaho, Oregon and Georgia have held or assumed that the Second Amendment encom- passes the right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense. But along with the highest courts of Massachusetts, Maryland, and the District of Colum- bia, which have refused to recognize this right, a divided Third Circuit panel below held that carrying handguns outside the home for self-defense falls outside the scope of the Second Amendment’s protec- tion. It thus upheld New Jersey’s “justifiable need” prerequisite for carrying defensive handguns. ii QUESTIONS PRESENTED – Continued The federal appellate courts are also split 8-1 on the question of whether the government must provide evidence to meet its burden in Second Amendment cases. The First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and District of Columbia Circuits re- quire the government to produce legislative findings or other evidence to sustain a law burdening the right to bear arms. But the majority below held that the legislature’s policy decisions need not be sup- ported by any findings or evidence to survive a Sec- ond Amendment challenge, if the law strikes the court as reasonable. Accordingly, the majority upheld New Jersey’s “justifiable need” law despite the state’s concession that it lacked legislative findings or evi- dence of the law’s public safety benefits, let alone the degree of fit between the regulation and the interests it allegedly secures. The questions presented are: 1. Whether the Second Amendment secures a right to carry handguns outside the home for self- defense. 2. Whether state officials violate the Second Amendment by requiring that individuals wishing to exercise their right to carry a handgun for self- defense first prove a “justifiable need” for doing so. iii RULE 29.6 DISCLOSURE STATEMENT No parent or publicly owned corporation owns 10% or more of the stock in Second Amendment Foundation, Inc. or Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDINGS Petitioners John M. Drake, Gregory C. Gallaher, Lenny S. Salerno, Finley Fenton, Second Amendment Foundation, Inc., and Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. were plaintiffs and appellants below. Respondents Edward A. Jerejian and Thomas D. Manahan, Judges of the New Jersey Superior Court; Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police; Robert Jones, Police Chief of Ham- monton, New Jersey; and Richard Cook, Police Chief of Montville, New Jersey, were defendants and appellees below. Respondent John Jay Hoffman, Acting Attor- ney General of New Jersey, was an appellee below. Daniel J. Piszczatoski was a plaintiff and appel- lant below. Jeffrey Muller was a plaintiff before the district court. Former New Jersey Attorneys General Paula Dow and Jeffrey Chiesa, and New Jersey Su- perior Court Judge Rudolph A. Filko were defendants and appellees below. New Jersey Superior Court Judge Phillip Maenza and former Hammonton, New Jersey Police Chief Frank Ingemi were defendants in the district court. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTIONS PRESENTED ................................ i RULE 29.6 DISCLOSURE STATEMENT ........... iii PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDINGS ................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................... iv TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................. vii PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI ....... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................ 1 OPINIONS BELOW ............................................. 3 JURISDICTION ................................................... 3 CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY PRO- VISIONS ........................................................... 4 STATEMENT OF THE CASE .............................. 4 A. The Regulatory Regime ............................. 4 B. The Challenged Provision’s Application Against Petitioners .................................... 7 C. The Litigation Below ................................. 8 REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION .... 16 I. The Federal Courts of Appeals and State High Courts Are Divided Over Whether the Second Amendment Protects Carrying Handguns Outside the Home for Self- Defense ...................................................... 16 v TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page II. The Federal Courts of Appeals Are Split 8-1 Over Whether Government Officials Must Provide Any Evidence Justifying the Burdening of Second Amendment Rights ......................................................... 23 III. The Court Below Decided Important Questions of Law In a Manner Contrary to This Court’s Precedent .......................... 30 IV. This Case Presents An Exceptional – and Timely – Vehicle to Clarify the Law .......... 34 CONCLUSION ..................................................... 38 Appendix Opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ...................................... App. 1a Opinion of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey ........................... App. 77a Order of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey ......................... App. 131a Order Denying Petition for Rehearing En Banc ............................................................ App. 133a N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-5(b) .......................... App. 135a N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:39-6 ............................... App. 135a N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:43-6(a) .......................... App. 138a N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:44-1(f) ........................... App. 138a N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:58-4 ............................... App. 138a vi TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.2 ........................ App. 142a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.3 ........................ App. 143a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.4 ........................ App. 143a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.5 ........................ App. 146a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.7 ........................ App. 147a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.8 ........................ App. 147a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.9 ........................ App. 148a N.J. Admin. Code § 13:54-2.10 ...................... App. 148a Letter from Lt. David Schlueter to John Drake .......................................................... App. 150a Letter from Lt. David Schlueter to Finley Fenton......................................................... App. 153a Order, in the Matter of the Application by Finley Fenton for a Permit to Carry a Hand- gun, N.J. Superior Court, Law Division, Ber- gen County ................................................. App. 155a Letter from Police Chief Richard Cook to Larry Salerno ........................................................ App. 156a Order, Firearms Appeal No. 10-006, In the Mat- ter of an Appeal from the Denial of an Appli- cation for a Permit to Carry a Handgun re: Larry Salerno, N.J. Superior Court, Law Divi- sion – Criminal Court, Morris County ...... App. 158a Disapproved Application for Permit to Carry a Handgun (Gregory Gallaher) .................... App. 159a vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES Bateman v. Perdue, 881 F. Supp. 2d 709 (E.D.N.C. 2012) ....................................................... 21 Bd. of Trs. of State Univ. of N.Y. v. Fox, 492 U.S. 469 (1989) ........................................................ 25 Bonidy v. United States Postal Serv., No. 10- CV-02408-RPM, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95435 (D. Colo. July 9, 2013) ............................................. 21 Commonwealth v. Gouse, 461 Mass. 787, 965 N.E.2d 774 (2012) ..................................................