News comes from Eugene Volokh that the 7th Circuit wants the Skoien case reheard en banc. There are two possibilities here.
The first is that there was widespread disagreement with Judge Sykes’ decision, and that the others on the panel hope to reverse it should we lose the McDonald case. This would be similar to the Nordyke situation, in which the initial decision was similarly remanded pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
The second possibility is that they want to try for a more lenient standard of scrutiny, which seems unlikely. Heller took rational basis off the table, and Sykes’ opinion was as close to “intermediate” scrutiny as could be workable. All that remains is strict scrutiny for the 2nd Amendment.
Maybe, just maybe, there’s actually support for that. We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, the 4th Circuit has quietly agreed with the 7th, vacating William Chester’s conviction on similar grounds in an unpublished opinion. Continued...