On Friday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals raised the stakes for the upcoming confirmation fight over Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. In Mance v. Sessions, by an 8-7 vote, the New Orleans-based federal appellate court denied the plaintiffs’ request for full court review of their challenge to a federal law that prohibits firearms dealers from selling handguns to out-of-state consumers.

A three-judge panel had previously rejected the Second Amendment challenge to the law, holding the federal ban did not infringe on the plaintiffs’ right to bear arms. Now, with the full court refusing to rehear the case, a petition for Supreme Court review is inevitable.