Md. Shall Issue v. Hogan
Md. Shall Issue v. Hogan
Opinion of the Court
I. Introduction
On October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on a concert crowd in Las Vegas. In the span of barely ten minutes, the attacker unleashed hundreds of rounds of ammunition, killing 58 people and injuring more than 850. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the modern era. (Brief of Amicus Curiae Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Support of Def. at 2, ECF No. 13-1.) The shooter used semiautomatic rifles modified with devices known as "bump stocks," which enabled rapid fire approaching the rate of a fully automatic machine gun. (Id. at 2, 4.
[o]rdinarily, to operate a semiautomatic firearm, the shooter must repeatedly pull and release the trigger to allow it to reset, so that only one shot is fired with each pull of the trigger. When a bump-stock-type-device is affixed to a semiautomatic firearm, however, the device harnesses the recoil energy to slide the firearm back and forth so that the trigger automatically re-engages by *404'bumping' the shooter's stationary trigger finger without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter. The bump-stock-type device functions as a self-acting and self-regulating force that channels the firearm's recoil energy in a continuous back-and-forth cycle that allows the shooter to attain continuous firing after a single pull of the trigger ....
Dep't of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, & Explosives (ATF), Bump-Stock-Type Devices,
Machine guns have been regulated under federal law for decades. See e.g. , National Firearms Act of 1934, Pub. L. No. 73-474,
In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, numerous elected officials called for changes to federal law. DOJ Notice of Proposed Rulemaking,
The Maryland General Assembly moved more decisively. In April 2018, the democratically elected representatives of Maryland enacted Senate Bill 707, which made manufacture, sale, transport, or possession of "rapid fire trigger activators," including bump stocks and similar devices, unlawful in Maryland. 2018 Md. Laws ch. 252 (to be codified as amended at
*405we can ... sav[e] ... innocent lives, and minimiz[e] the magnitude of tragic events such as the Las Vegas shooting.") Seven other states similarly moved to restrict bump-stock-type devices. (Amicus at 11 n.33 (referring to laws in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington).)
In this case, a putative class action filed on June 11, 2018, Plaintiffs seek to invalidate SB-707's restrictions on bump stocks and similar devices. Plaintiff Maryland Shall Issue, Inc. (MSI), a non-profit membership organization "dedicated to the preservation and advancement of gun owners' rights in Maryland," asserts claims on its own behalf, and on behalf of its members and others similarly situated. (Compl. ¶ 8, ECF No. 1.) Four individual MSI members are also named as individual plaintiffs. (Id. ¶¶ 9-12.) Plaintiffs have sued Governor Larry Hogan in his official capacity, alleging that SB-707 violates their constitutional rights under the Federal and State Constitutions. (Id. ¶ 3.) The Complaint puts forward five counts: a violation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment (Count I); a violation of the Takings Clause of the Maryland Constitution, Article III, § 40 (Count II); a violation of the federal Due Process Clause, because of the imposition of an impossible condition (Count III); a violation of the federal Due Process Clause, because of vagueness (Count IV); and a violation of Article 24 of the Maryland Constitution, because of the abrogation of vested property rights (Count V). (Id. )
Currently before the Court is Defendant's motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. (ECF No. 9.) The issue is fully briefed, and no hearing is required. See Local Rule 105.6 (D. Md. 2016). For the reasons set forth below, Defendant's motion will be granted as to all counts of the Complaint.
II. Factual Background
On April 24, 2018, Governor Hogan signed Senate Bill 707 ("the Act," or "SB-707") into law. (Compl. ¶ 13.) The Act makes it unlawful for any person to "manufacture, possess, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive a rapid fire trigger activator" or to "transport" such a device into the state. SB-707, sec. 2, § 4-305.1(a). Violation of the Act is a criminal misdemeanor subject to a term of imprisonment up to three years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both. SB-707, sec. 1, § 4-306(a).
The Act defines a "rapid fire trigger activator" to be "any device, including a removable manual or power-driven activating device, constructed so that, when installed in or attached to a firearm the rate at which the trigger is activated increases; or the rate of fire increases." SB-707, sec. 1, § 4-301(M)(1). The term is defined to include "a bump stock, trigger crank, hellfire trigger, binary trigger system, burst trigger system, or a copy or a similar device, regardless of the producer or manufacturer." § 4-301(M)(2). These named devices are defined as follows:
• "Bump Stock" is defined as "a device that, when installed in or attached to a firearm, increases the rate of fire of the firearm by using energy from the recoil of the firearm to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates repeated activation of the trigger." § 4-301(F).
• "Trigger Crank" is defined as "a device that, when installed in or attached to a firearm, repeatedly activates the trigger of the firearm through the use of a crank, a lever, *406or any other part that is turned in a circular motion." § 4-301(N).
• "Hellfire Trigger" is defined as "a device that, when installed in or attached to a firearm, disengages the trigger return spring when the trigger is pulled." § 4-301(K).
• "Binary Trigger System" is defined as "a device that, when installed in or attached to a firearm, fires both when the trigger is pulled and on release of the trigger." § 4-301(E).
• "Burst Trigger System" is defined as "a device that, when installed in or attached to a firearm, allows the firearm to discharge two or more shots with a single pull of the trigger by altering the trigger reset." § 4-301(G).
Finally, the Act exempts from the definition any "semiautomatic replacement trigger that improves the performance and functionality over the stock trigger." § 4-301(M)(3).
The Act contains an exception clause to permit certain individuals to continue to possess the otherwise prohibited devices in Maryland, provided that the individual:
(1) possessed the rapid fire trigger activator before October 1, 2018; (2) applied to the [ATF] before October 1, 2018, for authorization to possess a rapid fire trigger activator; (3) received authorization to possess a rapid fire trigger activator from the [ATF] before October 1, 2019; and (4) is in compliance with all federal requirements for possession of a rapid fire trigger activator.
SB-707, sec. 2, § 4-305.1(b). Most provisions of the Act went into effect on October 1, 2018. (Compl. ¶ 13.) The requirement that an individual have received "authorization" from the ATF to qualify for the exception does not go into effect until October 1, 2019. SB-707, sec. 3.
On the same day that the Act was signed into law, the ATF issued a "Special Advisory" on its website stating that "ATF is without legal authority to accept and process" applications for authorization under the Act. (Compl. ¶ 32 (quoting Special Advisory, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Maryland Law Restricting 'Rapid Fire Trigger Activators,' (Apr. 24, 2018) [hereinafter ATF Special Advisory], https://www.atf.gov/news/pr/maryland-law-restricting-rapid-fire-trigger-activators).) The Advisory declared that "[a]ny such applications or requests will be returned to the applicant without action." (Id. (quoting ATF Special Advisory).)
According to the Complaint, Plaintiff MSI is a non-profit organization that works to "educate the community about the right of self-protection, the safe handling of firearms, and the responsibility that goes with carrying a firearm in public." (Compl. ¶ 8.) Its purpose is to "promot[e] the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms," and to conduct activities including "education, research, and legal action focusing on the Constitutional right to privately own, possess and carry firearms and firearms accessories." (Id. ) MSI sues on its own behalf, alleging that SB-707 "undermin[es] its message and act[s] as an obstacle to the organization's objectives and purposes," and sues on behalf of its members, who "currently possess 'rapid fire trigger activators' which are effectively and totally banned by" the Act. (Id. ) The individual Plaintiffs, Paul Brockman, Robert Brunger, Caroline Brunger, and David Orlin, are all Maryland residents and MSI members, each of whom is alleged to have lawfully owned one or more of the devices prior to the Act's effective date. (Id. ¶¶ 9-11.) Plaintiffs seek compensatory damages for the loss of their banned devices, as well as declaratory and *407permanent injunctive relief to bar enforcement of the Act. (Id. ¶ 4.)
III. Standard for Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6)
A complaint must contain "sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to 'state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.' " Ashcroft v. Iqbal ,
IV. Analysis
Although the Complaint alleges five counts, Plaintiffs have four main theories of relief:
• In Counts I and II, Plaintiffs argue that the Act is a per se taking without just compensation under the United States Constitution, as well as the Maryland Constitution, to the extent its Takings Clause follows federal law. (See Compl. ¶ 21 (citing Litz v. Md. Dep't of Env't. ,446 Md. 254 ,131 A.3d 923 , 930 (2016) ("[T]he decisions of the Supreme Court on the Fourteenth Amendment are practically direct authorities [for construing Article III, § 40 ].") ).)
• In Counts II and V, Plaintiffs put forward a separate per se takings theory under the State Constitution-that the Act retrospectively abrogates vested property rights in violation of Article 24, which also constitutes a taking under Maryland law. (Seeid. ¶ 70 (citing Dua v. Comcast Cable of Md., Inc. ,370 Md. 604 ,805 A.2d 1061 , 1076 (2002) ("A statute having the effect of abrogating a vested property right, and not providing for compensation, does 'authoriz[e] private property[ ]' to be taken ... without just compensation ( Article III, § 40 ). Concomitantly, such a statute results in a person ... being 'deprived of his ... property' contrary to 'the law of the land' (Article 24).") ).)
• In Count IV, Plaintiffs argue that the Act is unconstitutionally vague, because its terms can be read to encompass a number of devices that have only "minimal" impact on a firearm's rate of fire and are otherwise functionally and operationally dissimilar to bump stocks and other devices named in the Act. (Id. ¶¶ 61-66.)
• In Count III, Plaintiffs argue that ATF's refusal to process applications and grant authorizations for continued lawful possession makes it "legally impossible to comply" with the Act's exception clause, thus imposing a "legally impossible condition precedent" that violates due process and *408cannot be severed from the rest of the Act. (Id. ¶¶ 55-57.)
The Court will address each of these claims in turn.
Before analyzing Plaintiffs' claims, however, the Court must first address a preliminary jurisdictional issue. According to the Complaint, Plaintiff MSI sues on its own behalf (organizational or "individual" standing) and on behalf of its members (associational or representational standing). (Id. ¶ 8.) However, MSI does not allege a direct harm to itself sufficient to support standing in a non-representational capacity. A plaintiff's standing to sue in federal court is "an integral component of the case or controversy requirement" of Article III, implicating the court's subject matter jurisdiction. Miller v. Brown ,
Here, the only direct harm MSI alleges to support standing in its non-representational, organizational capacity is that the Act "undermin[es] [MSI's] message and act[s] as an obstacle to the organization's objectives and purposes." (Compl. ¶ 8.) In short, MSI disagrees with the policy decisions of the Maryland Legislature embodied in SB-707, which are inconsistent with MSI's own policy objectives. To the extent this is an "injury" at all, it is neither concrete, nor particularized. "[A] mere interest in a problem, no matter how longstanding the interest and no matter how qualified the organization is in evaluating the problem, is not sufficient [to establish standing]." Sierra Club v. Morton ,
Therefore, MSI lacks standing to bring claims on its own behalf. Accordingly, in evaluating the motion to dismiss, the Court will only consider MSI's allegations as to harms suffered by its individual members.
A. Takings Claim (Counts I and II)
Plaintiffs allege that SB-707 effects a "per se taking," because it bans the manufacture, sale, transfer, transport, possession, purchase, or receipt of rapid fire trigger activators without compensation. (Compl. ¶¶ 14, 18, 20-27, 49, 52.) The Court will first address this theory under the federal Takings Clause, and under Maryland's Taking Clause, Art. III, § 40, to the extent its protections are analogous to its federal counterpart. Litz ,
i. The Act regulates rapid fire trigger activators as contraband, a legitimate exercise of the state's traditional police power to regulate for public safety.
Plaintiffs argue that any ban on possession of personal property is a taking requiring payment of just compensation, no matter how dangerous or threatening the property might be to public safety. (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 7-8, 11-12, ECF No. 23). Under Plaintiffs' theory, a state may ban the sale or particular uses of existing items of personal property, but a state may never ban possession of any item that is already lawfully owned. (Id. ¶ 16 ("Maryland is not free to declare existing lawfully owned and lawfully acquired property to be 'contraband' ....").) This theory would entail a radical curtailment of traditional state police powers, one that flies in the face of a long history of government *409prohibitions of hazardous contraband.
A state's interest in "the protection of its citizenry and the public safety is not only substantial, but compelling." Kolbe v. Hogan ,
These principles are entirely consistent with the long history of state laws that criminalize, ban, or otherwise restrict items deemed hazardous under the police power. See, e.g. , Md. Code. Ann., Crim. Law §§ 4-303(a) (assault weapons), 4-305(b) (large capacity, detachable magazines), 4-402 to 4-405 (machine guns), and 4-503 (destructive, explosive, and incendiary devices, and toxic materials);
Plaintiffs also make much of the fact that, prior to the passage of SB-707, rapid fire trigger activators were "lawful property" in Maryland, "not contraband." (Id. at 16.) Although true, this point is irrelevant. Practically all products later defined as contraband were not contraband before the enactment of the law that named them *410as such. Rapid fire trigger activators used to be lawful in Maryland, but SB-707 makes them unlawful. This is a predictable and uncontroversial consequence of new criminal laws: they criminalize things that would not have been criminal but for the law. Ignoring this basic truth about the nature of criminal legislation, Plaintiffs suggest that states can pass and enforce contraband laws only with respect to items that were already defined as contraband (id. at 15), a circular argument leading to absurd results-nothing could be contraband unless it was already contraband. Under such an approach, public safety regulations would be permanently frozen in the past, and states would be inhibited from addressing new threats to the public, no matter how grave. The Constitution does not tie the hands of state governments to such crippling effect.
To the contrary, in the context of firearms specifically, the Supreme Court confirmed that our nation's "historical tradition of prohibiting" "dangerous and unusual weapons" is entirely consistent with the Constitution. District of Columbia v. Heller ,
like their fully automatic counterparts, the banned assault weapons are firearms designed for the battlefield, for the soldier to be able to shoot a large number of rounds across a battlefield at a high rate of speed. Their design results in a capability for lethality-more wounds, more serious, in more victims-far beyond that of other firearms in general, including other semiautomatic guns.
Kolbe ,
Based on this legislative and constitutional history, the Court concludes that SB-707 falls well within Maryland's traditional police power to define and ban ultra-hazardous contraband.
ii. The Supreme Court did not reject all consideration of traditional state police powers in all Takings Clause analyses .
Plaintiffs insist that, under current Supreme Court precedent, "the Takings inquiry is completely independent of the State's police power." (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 3.) Primarily relying on the Court's decision in Lucas v. S.C. Coastal Council ,
*411(Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 7-8, 11, 14.) In Plaintiffs' view, a state's power to declare dangerous property to be contraband will always be constrained by an obligation to pay just compensation if possession is banned-in effect, states cannot completely ban any item of personal property, no matter how dangerous, and no matter how compelling the state's interest in doing so, without compensating all individuals in the state who happen to already own it. (Mot. Dismiss Mem. Supp. at 12 ("Taken to its logical conclusion, the plaintiffs' theory would require the state to pay compensation [for new prohibitions on] ... yet-to-be-developed drugs, poisons, toxic materials, explosives and the like.").) Although the Court must construe factual allegations in Plaintiffs' favor, the Court need not accept their interpretation of the law. Wag More Dogs ,
Lucas does acknowledge an inherent tension in subjecting takings inquiries in their entirety "to unbridled, uncompensated qualification under the police power," because, at the extreme, all property rights could be destroyed under that rationale.
Outside of these categorical exceptions, the state's asserted justification for a regulation remains a relevant and important consideration. In Lucas , the Court reiterated this principle, noting that, although the language employed in takings analyses changed over time, the underlying principle remained consistent:
The 'harmful or noxious uses' principle [employed in early cases] was the Court's early attempt to describe in theoretical terms why government may, consistent with the Takings Clause, affect property values by regulation without incurring an obligation to compensate-a reality we nowadays acknowledge explicitly with respect to the full scope of the State's police power.
Of particular relevance to this case, Lucas distinguishes between real and personal property in discussing the extent to which the police power informs property rights and takings analyses:
*412[O]ur 'takings' jurisprudence ... has traditionally been guided by the understandings of our citizens regarding the content of, and the State's power over, the 'bundle of rights' that they acquire when they obtain title to property. It seems to us that the property owner necessarily expects the uses of his property to be restricted, from time to time, by various measures newly enacted by the State in legitimate exercise of its police powers; '[a]s long recognized, some values are enjoyed under an implied limitation and must yield to the police power.' And in the case of personal property , by reason of the State's traditionally high degree of control over commercial dealings, he ought to be aware of the possibility that new regulation might even render his property economically worthless .... In the case of land , however, ... the notion ... that title is somehow held subject to the 'implied limitation' that the State may subsequently eliminate all economically valuable use is inconsistent with the historical compact recorded in the Takings Clause that has become part of our constitutional culture.
At its broadest, Lucas might be read to suggest that this rationale limiting police power justifications extends to other contexts in which, like Lucas , a per se rule applies, but it extends no further. Plaintiffs attempt to characterize another landmark takings case, Horne v. Department of Agriculture , --- U.S. ----,
iii. Plaintiffs fail to allege a taking under any of the per se theories recognized by the Supreme Court.
There are three categories of takings to which the Supreme Court has applied per se rules: (1) cases involving direct, physical appropriations (so-called "physical takings"), in which government takes title to or "physically takes possession of" real or personal property "for its own use," see Horne ,
The per se rules exemplified by Lucas and Loretto do not apply to this case, because, by their very terms, they are limited to real property. See Lucas ,
Plaintiffs assert that the distinction between real and personal property was "soundly rejected" by the Supreme Court in Horne , such that all takings theories now apply to real and personal property alike. (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 8.) In Plaintiffs' reading, Horne effectively threw out a century or more of Takings Clause jurisprudence, obliterating the traditional distinctions between real and personal property, and between direct, physical appropriations and regulations. (See id. at 14 (arguing that pre- Horne cases did not "survive" as binding precedent); see also Mot. Dismiss Mem. Supp. at 12.) But, Horne never characterized its holding as overruling precedent. Plaintiffs' theory suggests the Supreme Court overruled not just a single case but decades of jurisprudence without ever expressly acknowledging that its holding represented a radical break from the past. This Court would decline to apply such a breathtaking sweep to Horne even if the Supreme Court had been silent as to the scope of its ruling; however, the Court plainly positioned its holding as leaving past approaches intact.
First, Horne traced the development of Takings Clause jurisprudence into two strands: direct government appropriations of property, which were the only kind of takings originally recognized; and regulatory takings, which were first acknowledged in early twentieth century cases. Horne ,
Plaintiffs have also failed to plausibly allege a per se taking under Horne 's direct appropriation rule. The challenged regulation in Horne constituted a physical taking because it mandated that private property owners transfer title and possession of personal property directly to the government. Id. at 2424 ("The [challenged order] requires growers in certain years to give a percentage of their crop to the Government, free of charge.... [A government body] acquires title to the reserve raisins that have been set aside, and decides how to dispose of them in its discretion."). Plaintiffs argue that SB-707 "depriv[es] plaintiffs of physical possession of their property, just as the federal government in Horne physically deprived the plaintiff ... of physical possession of the raisins." (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 8-9). That is, Plaintiffs claim that their rapid fire trigger activators have been "actually occupied or taken away," "directly appropriat[ed]," and "physically surrender[ed]," just like the raisins in Horne . (Id. at 8 (quoting Horne ,
*415Thus, Plaintiffs do not assert a per se taking under any of the three discrete categories recognized by the Supreme Court. Instead, Plaintiffs' propose a new per se rule: that "[b]anning possession is a per se taking." (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 7.) No Supreme Court or Fourth Circuit precedent has ever adopted such a rule. Plaintiffs attempt to locate their rule in Loretto , arguing that banning possession is a per se taking because it is "so onerous that its effect is tantamount to a direct appropriation or ouster." (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 14.) However, this quoted language, which Plaintiffs repeatedly misattribute to Loretto , does not appear anywhere in that case.
*416Plaintiffs' purported per se rule is thus rooted in a perplexing and unambiguous misstatement of the rule announced in Loretto -a rule that, as already discussed, does not govern this case. See supra pp. 412-14, 414 n.6.
Plaintiffs also rely heavily on Andrus v. Allard ,
The only case providing support for Plaintiffs' theory that possession bans are per se takings is a recent Ninth Circuit case. Duncan v. Becerra ,
*417Thus, reading all alleged facts in Plaintiffs' favor, Plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege a per se taking under any theory recognized in federal Takings Clause jurisprudence. Accordingly, Count I will be dismissed in full, and Count II will be dismissed insofar as it relies on federal law to establish a per se taking under the Maryland Constitution.
B. Abrogation of Vested Rights (Counts II and V)
Plaintiffs allege a separate per se theory under the Maryland Constitution. Plaintiffs argue that SB-707 "abrogate[es] a vested property right" in violation of Article 24's protection against "retrospective statutes," and that an Article 24 violation, in turn, constitutes a taking under Article III, § 40. (Compl. ¶¶ 68-73; see also id. ¶ 52.) Under Maryland law, "retrospective statutes are those that 'would impair rights a party possessed when he acted, increase a party's liability for past conduct, or impose new duties with respect to transactions already completed.' " (Id. ¶ 72 (quoting Muskin v. State Dep't of Assessments & Taxation ,
The first problem with this theory is that it is not at all clear how SB-707's provisions can be understood to operate retrospectively. It is not as if SB-707 rendered Plaintiffs' past lawful purchases of rapid fire trigger activators to have been unlawful as of the date of purchase; nor did it retroactively impose the exception clause's authorization requirements. Such effects would have "increas[ed] ... liability for past conduct," or "impair[ed] rights" and "impos[ed] new duties with respect to transactions already completed." Muskin ,
There is a second, even more fundamental flaw in Plaintiffs' theory. Plaintiffs provide no authority for the proposition that Maryland law recognizes, under Article 24, "vested" rights to possess tangible personal property like rapid fire trigger activators in perpetuity. The cases cited by Plaintiffs concern vested rights to real property, contract rights, and previously accrued causes of actions-none pertains to personal property. See Muskin ,
Plaintiffs emphasize that Maryland law "may impose greater limitations" on the abrogation of vested property rights than federal law. (Compl. ¶ 71 (quoting Muskin ,
The Court therefore concludes that Plaintiffs' per se theory under Maryland law also fails.
C. Void for Vagueness (Count IV)
Plaintiffs next argue that SB-707 is unconstitutionally vague in defining a rapid fire trigger activator as "any device ... constructed so that, when installed in or attached to a firearm[,] the rate at which the trigger is activated increases; or the rate of fire increases ." (Compl. ¶ 61 (emphasis added) (quoting § 4-301(M)(1) ).) According to Plaintiffs, this definition can be read to encompass any number of firearm accessories that "allow for faster, controlled follow-up shots" and, therefore, might "increase, by some small measure, the effective 'rate of fire.' " (Id. at ¶ 62.) Plaintiffs cite muzzle weights, fore grips, recoil-reducing devices, and devices that redirect flash as items that could be covered by this reading of SB-707. (Id. ) In addition, because the Act does not by its terms limit its scope to devices that operate on semiautomatic weapons, Plaintiffs further claim that accessories that "permit a user to more rapidly reload a revolver" could also be interpreted as minimally increasing the "rate of fire." (Id. at 63.) For these reasons, Plaintiffs argue that the Act fails to provide "fair notice of the conduct [it] proscribes" and risks "arbitrary and discriminatory law enforcement," in violation of due process. (Id. at ¶ 60 (quoting Sessions v. Dimaya , --- U.S. ----,
The Court cannot reach the merits of Plaintiffs' vagueness claim, because Plaintiffs failed to establish standing with respect to this count of the Complaint. Although Defendant's motion was filed as a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), the Court may construe the motion as one filed under Rule 12(b)(1) when the Court's subject matter jurisdiction is implicated. Hawkins v. Elaine Chao , Civ. No. JKB-16-3752,
In mounting a pre-enforcement facial challenge to a criminal law, a plaintiff can establish constitutional standing by demonstrating (1) "an intention to engage in a course of conduct arguably affected with a constitutional interest," and (2) a "credible threat of prosecution" under the Act. Hamilton v. Pallozzi ,
Here, Plaintiffs do not allege any facts suggesting a "credible threat" that the Act will be enforced in accordance with Plaintiffs' broad reading. Plaintiffs do not claim to have been threatened with prosecution on the basis of their possession of the additional devices as to which SB-707 is allegedly vague. Nor do they allege that any state official with enforcement authority has made statements or taken actions from which the Court might infer intent to prosecute in such a manner. All Plaintiffs allege is that a literal reading of one clause of SB-707's definition of a rapid fire trigger activator, taken in isolation from the additional provisions that make up the definition section, might encompass devices that Plaintiffs themselves acknowledge are not "in anyway [sic ] akin to" and do not "function like" the devices specifically named as "rapid fire trigger activators" in the Act. (Compl. ¶ 64.) In order for Plaintiffs to face a risk of "direct injury" from overbroad enforcement, Babbitt ,
Because Plaintiffs have not alleged facts from which the Court could infer a credible threat of prosecution, Plaintiffs lack standing to mount a pre-enforcement challenge on vagueness grounds. Accordingly, Count IV will be dismissed. Plaintiffs are free to return to the courts later should there be an actual record or imminent threat of enforcement on the grounds alleged.
D. Impossibility of Complying with the Exception Clause (Count III)
Plaintiffs' final claim is that SB-707 violates due process, because the ATF's position that it is "without legal authority" to process applications for authorization makes it legally impossible for Plaintiffs to comply with the Act's exception clause. (Compl. ¶ 34.) See also ATF Special Advisory. Plaintiffs further argue that the invalid exception clause cannot be severed from the rest of SB-707 under a "long-established" rule of statutory interpretation:
[W]here the Legislature enacts a prohibition with an excepted class, and a court finds that the classification is constitutionally *420infirm, the court will ordinarily not presume that the Legislature would have enacted the prohibition without the exception, thereby extending the prohibition to a class of persons whom the Legislature clearly intended should not be reached.
(Id. ¶ 36 (quoting State v. Schuller ,
Assuming that ATF's announced position makes it completely impossible for any individual to obtain authorization prior to the 2019 deadline, Plaintiffs still fail to state a plausible claim for relief.
A comparison to Hughey v. JMS Dev. Corp. , relied on by Plaintiffs, is instructive. In Hughey , the Eleventh Circuit dissolved an injunction against defendant JMS under the citizen suit provision of the Clean Water Act (CWA), because it concluded that compliance with the CWA was impossible under the circumstances.
In other cases cited by Plaintiffs, the unavailability of an exception itself created a constitutional problem. See, e.g. , Broderick v. Rosner ,
Plaintiffs' remaining arguments about severability need not be addressed, because there has been no threshold finding that any provision of the law is unconstitutional or otherwise invalid. See O.C. Taxpayers for Equal Rights, Inc. v. Mayor & City Council of Ocean City ,
*422Schuller ,
Accordingly, Count III will be dismissed.
V. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, an order shall enter granting Defendant's motion to dismiss (ECF No. 9) as to all counts of the Complaint. Plaintiff MSI, in its non-representational capacity, lacks standing to pursue relief on its own behalf. Accordingly, it will not be permitted to bring claims in that capacity. As to Plaintiffs' remaining claims, Count IV of the Complaint will be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1), and Counts I, II, III, and V will be dismissed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
In this Introduction, in order to set the context, the Court takes notice of certain background facts about which there appears to be no genuine issue.
The Las Vegas shooter fired an estimated ninety rounds in ten seconds, while a fully automatic machine gun can fire approximately ninety-eight shots in seven seconds; by comparison, the rate of fire for an unmodified semiautomatic weapon is in the range of twenty-four rounds in nine seconds. (See Amicus at 4 (citing Larry Buchanan, et al., What Is a Bump Stock and How Does It Work? , N.Y. Times (Feb. 20, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/us/bump-stock-las-vegas-gun.html).) The addition of a bump stock to a semiautomatic firearm can therefore mean an increase of hundreds of shots per minute.
Contraband laws are also a normal part of the regulatory landscape at the federal level. Although Congress lacks a broad police power to regulate for the general welfare, federal statutes similarly criminalize, ban, and restrict contraband items, pursuant to Congress's enumerated powers. See, e.g. , Controlled Substances Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-513,
Recognized categories to which per se rules apply are discussed infra , Section IV.A(iii).
Plaintiffs exclusively allege a per se theory. (Compl. at ¶¶ 49, 52.) They do not assert a regulatory taking under the ad hoc balancing test laid out in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City ,
In a few places, the Horne majority implies that Loretto , which involved a law requiring a landowner to permit permanent physical occupation of its rooftop by a private third party, could be understood as a physical taking case. See
Plaintiffs cite no case in which a burden on possession of personal property was found to be violate the Constitution unless direct government appropriation was involved. See Nixon v. United States ,
In what appears to be, at best, a gross oversight in Plaintiffs' legal research, the quoted language Plaintiffs misattribute to Loretto , about regulation "so onerous that its effect is tantamount to a direct appropriation or ouster," appears to have originated in a different opinion, never cited by Plaintiffs, and issued more than twenty years after Loretto : Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. ,
Lingle , which involved a challenge to a Hawaii law limiting the amount of rent oil companies could charge for company-owned oil stations, was a regulatory takings case involving restriction of a commercial use of real property.
Plaintiffs also imply that Horne extended the per se rule they incorrectly attribute to Loretto to the context of personal property. (Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 14.) However, Horne never used the misquoted language, either; the majority never cites Lingle at all. Horne ,
There is one final irony in Plaintiffs' puzzling and mistaken reliance on this language from Lingle . In Lingle 's opening line, the Court remarked that "[o]n occasion, a would-be doctrinal rule or test finds its way into our case law through simple repetition of a phrase-however fortuitously coined." Lingle ,
It is also worth noting that, unlike in Horne , Plaintiffs indisputably retain rights to possess, transfer, or use rapid fire trigger activators outside of Maryland. (Mot. Dismiss Mem. Supp. at 9, 10 n.6; Opp'n Mot. Dismiss at 26-27 (acknowledging but dismissing possible out-of-state uses).) However, the Court's conclusion that no taking has occurred does not depend on these out-of-state uses.
Plaintiffs also cite Steuart v. City of Baltimore ,
The impossibility of obtaining authorizations is not a foregone conclusion. The authorization requirement does not go into effect for another eleven months, SB-707, sec. 3, and, at the time the Special Advisory was issued, ATF was actively reconsidering the legal status of bump stocks and similar devices under federal law. See DOJ Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 83 Fed. Reg. at 13442. As yet, no final decision has been announced. Therefore, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the ATF might alter its position at some point before the statutory deadline expires. However, because all facts and inferences must be construed in Plaintiffs' favor at this stage, the Court assumes that ATF authorization will be impossible to obtain for the purposes of this analysis.
Plaintiffs also cite United States v. Dalton ,
Second, and more importantly, Dalton is a post-conviction challenge, not a pre-enforcement suit. The defendant sought relief from a specific criminal penalty imposed under specific circumstances. Here, Plaintiffs seek to invalidate SB-707's statutory scheme in toto. Although the Tenth Circuit reversed the convictions, nothing in Dalton even remotely suggests that the underlying prohibition on possession was invalid or that the defendant therefore retained a right to possess the firearm in question-which is ultimately what Plaintiffs seek here.
Although the Court need not reach the severability question, there are a few aspects of Plaintiffs' argument that warrant comment. Plaintiffs seem to read SB-707's exception clause as evidence of a clear intent on the part of the Maryland Legislature to exempt an entire class of existing owners-or at least some of them-from the prohibition on possession of rapid fire trigger activators. (See Compl. ¶¶ 33, 36-37.) However, the design of the statute's exception clause does not support that conclusion.
Had the Legislature intended to guarantee a path to continued lawful possession, it could have followed the example of past Maryland firearms regulations and crafted either a straightforward grandfather clause excepting all lawful purchases prior to a certain date, see, e.g. ,
Finally, even assuming, arguendo , that there might be an independent ground for objection based on the formal distinction between ATF processing but denying each and every application and ATF refusing to process any applications at all, a suit against the State of Maryland is not the proper vehicle for relief.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MARYLAND SHALL ISSUE v. Lawrence HOGAN, in His Official Capacity as Governor of Maryland
- Cited By
- 30 cases
- Status
- Published