Friday’s October 9, 2026 Conference Is The Court’s First Regular Friday Conference Of The Term
Thirteen firearms petitions have been reported for that conference: eight challenges to the federal felon-in-possession ban, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), three challenges to the unlawful-user ban, § 922(g)(3), and two other Second Amendment questions.
Orders from this conference are set for Tuesday, October 13 at 9:30 a.m. ET. Monday, October 12, is a Court holiday.
§ 922(g)(1) — Lifetime Felon Disarmament (8)
• Jefferson v. United States, No. 26-5617 (4th Cir.). Whether the lifetime ban is unconstitutional on its face or as applied.
• Tardieff v. United States, No. 26-5565 (5th Cir.). Whether a permanent ban on all felons is facially unconstitutional under Bruen.
• Higgins v. United States, No. 26-5487 (8th Cir.). Whether § 922(g)(1) allows as-applied challenges, and if not, whether it is facially overbroad.
• Cook v. United States, No. 26-5474 (4th Cir.). Facial and as-applied challenge to the lifetime ban.
• Johnson v. United States, No. 26-270 (10th Cir.). Whether someone whose only felony is nonviolent may bring an as-applied challenge.
• Mabrey v. United States, No. 26-5445 (4th Cir.). Facial and as-applied challenge to the lifetime ban.
• Jones v. United States, No. 26-5452 (9th Cir.). Whether the Ninth Circuit’s refusal to hear as-applied challenges conflicts with the Court’s precedent.
• Nuño-Lopez v. United States, No. 26-5520 (10th Cir.). Facial and as-applied challenge to § 922(g)(1).
§ 922(g)(3) — Unlawful Users Of Controlled Substances (3)
These follow United States v. Hemani (June 2026), which held that the ban could not be applied to a habitual marijuana user.
• Zapata v. United States, No. 26-5488 (8th Cir.). Facial Second Amendment challenge.
• Torgerson v. United States, No. 26-5473 (8th Cir.). Same facial question.
• Ledvina v. United States, No. 26-5025 (8th Cir.). As-applied challenge, plus vagueness of “unlawful user” and a related false-statement conviction under § 924(a)(1)(A).
Other Second Amendment Questions (2)
• Quadell-Lee Gaines v. United States, No. 26-303 (8th Cir.). Whether Bruen’s “relevantly similar” test requires a federal historical tradition to justify a federal ban, rather than colonial or state practice.
• Williams v. Illinois, No. 26-5616 (Ill. App.). Whether Bruen’s historical test applies to criminal penalties tied to a shall-issue concealed-carry licensing regime.
Another Possible Case
A fourteenth case, Novotny v. Moore, No. 25-1324, FPC’s challenge to Maryland’s public-carry location bans, was distributed for October 9. FPC reported on October 6 that the conference was being rescheduled again, so it may not actually be discussed Friday.
What’s Not On Friday’s List
The magazine cases held over from the September 28 long conference (Duncan v. Bonta, Gator’s Custom Guns v. Washington, and NAGR v. Lamont), and Beckwith v. Frey, the Maine 72-hour waiting-period petition, which is listed for the October 16 conference. Monday’s order list already denied cert in 48 firearms cases from the long conference, including United States v. Hembree on the felon ban, and left nine petitions pending without redistributing them for October 9.
The AR-15 cases already granted — Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins — are not part of this conference. They are set for argument on December 2.