A petition for rehearing en banc has been filed seeking review of the Fifth Circuit's panel decision in United States v. Peterson, which held that noise suppressors (aka silencers or mufflers) are not "Arms" protected by the Second Amendment. As I recently posted about the case here, the decision overlooked that millions of law-abiding Americans use suppressed firearms for ear protection and reduction of recoil, attributes just as relevant to the scope of the Second Amendment as other important firearm features.
The Court has ordered the United States to file a response by March 17. This is an opportunity for the Attorney General to comply with the President's Executive Order to examine all actions of executive departments and to present a plan to protect the Second Amendment rights of Americans. That includes review of "The positions taken by the United States in any and all ongoing and potential litigation that affects or could affect the ability of Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights."
The Brief of the United States previously filed under Attorney General Garland is the familiar excuse list of why the Second Amendment never impedes any restriction: suppressors are not "bearable arms," but even if they are, they are "dangerous and unusual," but even if they're not, the registration requirements of the National Firearms Act do not "infringe" on Second Amendment rights, and in any event, the registration requirements are analogous to historical regulation of commerce in firearms.
