U.S. Ninth Circuit

In an opinion that made national headlines, U.S. District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez early in June held that California's longstanding assault weapons ban was unconstitutional. At the request of California's attorney general, however, Judge Benitez issued a stay of the ruling for 30 days.

To date, people who have attempted to sue social media companies over users' posts have had little success, but that may be about to change. On May 4, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that could open the door for litigants who think social media companies are liable for injuries stemming from user posts. In that case, Lemmon v. Snap, Inc.

President Biden has promised the Department of Justice will issue new regulations regarding ghost guns by May 8. Ghost guns are unregistered gun kits that can be ordered online and then assembled by the buyer. The regulations will also cover related 3D printed guns, the blueprints of which can be downloaded online and used to manufacture firearms that can be very hard to trace.

Alex Kearns was 20 years old in June 2020 when he rode his bicycle to a railroad crossing near his home and ran in front of an oncoming train. His family says that Robinhood, the investing app that made headlines earlier this year for its role in the GameStop short, is responsible for the distress that led Kearns to take his own life.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed suit in the Western District of Washington this week, aiming to prevent the sale of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) building in Seattle. His office is joined in the suit by the state of Oregon, several historical societies, and 29 tribal communities. The Public Buildings Reform Board, a federal agency that rarely makes headlines, approved the plan to sell the facility on January 24, 2020.

Journalists in the Ninth Circuit may have an easier time accessing government data after an appeals panel held that search query results fall under the scope of the Freedom of Information Act. The panel concluded that government agencies must turn over gun tracing records requested by the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) the same way they would a paper record. CIR wanted to report on how often guns formerly owned by law enforcement agencies end up in the hands of criminals.