Opinion
3:22-cv-05403-DGE
01-09-2023
GABRIELLA SULLIVAN et al., Plaintiffs, v. BOB FERGUSON et al., Defendants.
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE
DAVID G. ESTUDILLO, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
This matter comes before the Court on its own motion pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 706(a). The Supreme Court in Bruen has directed “when the Second Amendment's plain text covers an individual's conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct. To justify its regulation . . . the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation.” New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n, Inc. v. Bruen, 142 S.Ct. 2111, 2126 (2022). Courts, in turn, must “assess whether modern firearms regulations are consistent with the Second Amendment's text and historical understanding.” Id. at 2131.
The parties are hereby ORDERED to show cause within 28 days of the issuance of this order why the Court should not appoint its own expert witness to assist the Court in evaluating historical sources in this matter to avoid “cherry-pick[ing]” the historical record. See United States v. Bullock, No. 3:18-CR-165-CWR-FKB, 2022 WL 16649175, at *2 (S.D.Miss. Oct. 27, 2022) (noting that “[t]his Court is not a trained historian” and that there is a “serious disconnect between the legal and historical communities” as to firearms history); see also Baird v. Bonta, No. 2:19-CV-00617-KJM-AC, 2022 WL 17542432, at *9 (E.D. Cal. Dec. 8, 2022).