ROCKFORD, IL – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) today announced the filing of a new FPC-supported federal lawsuit challenging Illinois’ ban on the carrying of firearms on public transportation and in public transportation facilities. The complaint in Schoenthal v. Raoul can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.
“The unifying feature of the historically accepted sensitive places where individuals were deprived of the right to bear arms was security,” argues the complaint. “In compensation for an individual’s lessened right to protect himself, the government provided security measures to ensure the physical protection of anyone in a legislative assembly or courthouse. In a modern context, this would mean measures such as requiring individuals to pass though magnetometers when entering the location in question. The Public Transportation Carry Ban is not accompanied by security measures of this type.”
“The underlying question here is clear: Do individuals have the right to defend themselves from unjust violence while on a bus?” said FPC Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “And the answer is self-evident: Anywhere individuals may be met with confrontation and unjust violence, they have the right to effectively defend themselves. The very concept of banning self-defense in those areas where people congregate is absurd on its face.”
Individuals who would like to Join the FPC Grassroots Army and support important pro-rights lawsuits and programs can sign up at JoinFPC.org. Individuals and organizations wanting to support charitable efforts in support of the restoration of Second Amendment and other natural rights can also make a tax-deductible donation to theFPC Action Foundation. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutionally protected rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs.
FPC Law (FPCLaw.org) is the nation’s first and largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the leader in the Second Amendment litigation and research space.
