1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 10 JANE DOE, et al. CASE NO. 22-cv-10-LAB (DEB) 11 Plaintiffs, 12 ORDER DIRECTING 13 vs. SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING 14 ROB BONTA, in his capacity as Attorney General of the State of 15 California, et al. 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiffs Jane Doe and John Doe Nos. 1 through 4 filed this action 19 against Defendant Rob Bonta, in his capacity as Attorney General of the 20 State of California, asking the Court to enjoin Defendant from enforcing 21 California Assembly Bill 173. Plaintiffs contend, as relevant to this Order, that 22 AB 173 infringes upon their right to keep and bear arms under the Second 23 Amendment to the United States Constitution. 24 Defendant has filed a motion to dismiss, and Plaintiffs have filed a 25 motion for preliminary injunction (the “Motions”). Both Motions are currently 26 pending and ask the Court to apply District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 27 570 (2008), and Ninth Circuit precedent “employ[ing] a two-prong test to 1 the challenged law burdens conduct protected by the Second Amendment 2 and (2) if so, directs courts to apply an appropriate level of scrutiny.’” (Pls.’ 3 Mot. for Preliminary Injunction, Dkt. 26, at 19 (quoting United States v. 4 Chovan, 735 F.3d 1127, 1136 (2008)); see also Def.’s Mot. to Dismiss, 5 Dkt. 36, at 19–20). 6 The Supreme Court’s June 23, 2022, decision in New York State Rifle 7 & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. ___ (2022), states that it makes “the 8 constitutional standard endorsed in Heller more explicit,” id. at 23, and 9 disapproves of the “two-step” approach that Courts of Appeals have 10 employed in evaluating firearm regulations. Id. at 9–15. Because Bruen may 11 affect the proper resolution of the Motions, the Court ORDERS the parties to 12 brief the following questions: 13 1) What standard must the Court apply to Plaintiffs’ Second 14 Amendment claims after Bruen? 15 2) If Bruen alters the applicable standard, how should the Court apply 16 that standard to the Motions insofar as they relate to Plaintiffs’ 17 Second Amendment claim? 18 Plaintiffs’ brief and Defendant’s brief both must be no longer than 20 19 pages and filed on or before July 25, 2022. 20 IT IS SO ORDERED. 21 22 Dated: June 23, 2022 23 HON. LARRY ALAN BURNS United States District Judge 24 25 26 27