In United States v. Metcalf, a Montana federal district court upheld the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act’s ban on carrying a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school (18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A)). The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus has joined other gun rights organizations in an amicus brief urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse and hold the ban unconstitutional.
We rarely file in criminal cases, but criminal cases can make precedent as readily as civil ones, and that precedent affects millions of peaceable gun owners. School shootings are horrific crimes, but “gun-free zones” disarm only the law-abiding, not people bent on violence.
Our brief makes three arguments:
- Under Bruen, “sensitive places” are narrowly defined. Schools exist on nearly every block; if the land around them counts, the term “sensitive places” loses all meaning.
- The district court made three critical errors. It applied Bruen’s “more nuanced approach” to a problem that has existed since the Founding, it found a tradition of buffer zones around polling places (let alone schools) where there is none, and it ignored that election-day polling place rules burden the right far less than a school zone ban that applies every day of the year.
- The 1,000-foot buffer harms law-abiding Americans. A school zone spans about three football fields in every direction, so someone lawfully carrying can violate it just by stopping for coffee, buying gas, or driving past a school.
We are joined in this Amicus Curiae Brief by:
- The California Rifle & Pistol Association
- The Second Amendment Law Center
- The Second Amendment Foundation
- The Second Amendment Defense and Education Coalition
- Federal Firearms Licensees of Illinois
Outcome
In September 2025, a divided Ninth Circuit panel (2-1) overturned Mr. Metcalf’s conviction. The court held that his reading of the law was plausible: his Montana license fits the federal law’s exception for people licensed by their state, so he lacked fair notice that his conduct was a crime. The court decided the case on those statutory grounds and did not reach the Second Amendment question our brief addressed.
Last updated: September 2025
Case Details
Case Title
United States of America v. Gabriel Cowan Metcalf, on appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana (Case No. 1:23-cr-00103-SPW-1, Hon. Susan P. Watters).
Ninth Circuit Case #
24-4818
Our Brief
On our website, you can read our Amicus Brief filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on December 6, 2024.
Counsel of Record
In this case, we are represented by C.D. Michel, Joshua Robert Dale, and Konstadinos T. Moros of Michel & Associates, P.C.
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Our lawsuits and amicus briefs are underwritten by the Minnesota Gun Owners Support Fund, doing business as the MN Gun Owners Law Center, a 501(c)(3). Gifts may be tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.