TRENTON, N.J. — As part of its nationwide effort to eliminate bans on constitutionally protected arms, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) today filed a Second Amendment lawsuit, Firearms Policy Coalition, et al. v. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, et al., challenging New Jersey’s total prohibition on “short-barreled rifles” (SBRs), defined in state law as those with a barrel shorter than 16 inches or an overall length under 26 inches.
“This exciting and critically important lawsuit builds on FPC’s landmark victory against New Jersey’s AR-15 ban, along with our recent wins against arms bans in states like California and Illinois,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “Supreme Court precedent makes clear that arms in common use for lawful purposes—like the rifles at issue here—are fully protected by the Second Amendment. We are excited to work towards eliminating this ban so you can exercise your rights when, where, and how you choose.”
As the complaint explains, the Second Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes including self-defense, training, competition, and hunting. Yet New Jersey’s ban unconstitutionally and completely prohibits common firearms like SBRs. In the Garden State, it is a third-degree crime to buy, sell, or possess any SBR, punishable by 3 to 5 years in prison. But as the Supreme Court has held, the Second Amendment’s protection of arms “extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms”—including the rifles at issue in this case.
“It’s a travesty for any state to enforce an insane regulatory scheme where you can have a rifle, and you can have a handgun, but you can’t have a firearm that falls in between. Sadly, that’s the tyrannical absurdity of New Jersey gun laws for you. We look forward to ending this unconstitutional ban so peaceable people can lawfully buy, own, and use these rifles in New Jersey without fear of arrest or prison time,” Combs concluded.
This new SBR lawsuit closely follows the end of the Biden ATF pistol brace ban rule that was eliminated through FPC’s Mock v. Garland case, where the organization and its co-plaintiffs secured a final judgment vacating the rule. Yesterday, the federal government dismissed the appeal of that judgment, leaving the vacatur order in place.
To support this important Second Amendment lawsuit to end SBR bans as well as dozens of other cases to strike down unconstitutional gun control laws across the country, join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.
The full complaint in FPC v. Platkin is available at https://www.firearmspolicy.org/njsbrcase. FPC is joined in the case by Daniel Francisco, an FPC member. Plaintiffs are represented by Chad Flores of Flores Law and Bradley Lehman of Whiteford. FPC also thanks the FPC Action Foundation for its strategic support of this FPC Law case.
