SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a motion to lift the stay that was imposed last year in Miller v. Bonta, its lawsuit challenging California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” that resulted in the district court striking down the ban under the Second Amendment. The motion, along with other case documents, can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The people of California have endured for long enough,” said FPC Policy Counsel Matthew Larosiere. “Suffering first and worst all too often, Californians are long overdue to have their rights vindicated. We are eager to see this stay lifted and one more nugget of freedom restored in the Golden State.”

“The Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen eliminates any plausible argument for a stay in this case,” reads the motion. “Whereas Appellants here relied on this and other courts’ familiar two-step interest-balancing approach to claim a likelihood of success on the merits, the Supreme Court explicitly rejected that framework as ‘having one step too many.’”

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SACRAMENTO, CA – Last night, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) sent a letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta informing him that if local concealed-carry issuing agencies use the state’s so-called “good moral character” requirement in the way he recently called for in response to NYSRPA v. Bruen, it will cause them “to defend far more Second Amendment claims than they have ever faced.” The letter can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“Conditioning a carry license on a discretionary evaluation of an applicant’s ‘good moral character’ is patently inconsistent with Bruen’s repeated statements that the carry right may not be denied by non-objective criteria applied by a local government official,” says the letter by attorney Bradly Benbrook of Benbrook Law Group. “Bruen considered and rejected New York’s ‘proper cause’ requirement for a carry license, but it left no doubt that it was the discretionary aspect of the licensing regime—requiring citizens to convince a government official that they deserved a license based on their circumstances—that fell outside the historical tradition of permissible firearm regulation.”

“It has never been clearer that these laws trample people’s rights,” said FPC Policy Counsel Matthew Larosiere. “Both Bruen and the command of the Second Amendment are clear: government agents don’t get to decide on a piecemeal basis who does and does not get to enjoy their fundamental rights. It is my sincere hope that Bonta sees the writing on the wall and abandons his aggressive encroachments against the rights of Californians, lest the federal courts have to, once again, show him his place.” Read more

CAMDEN, NJ – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it has filed a new Second Amendment lawsuit challenging New Jersey’s ban on so-called “assault weapons.” The complaint in Cheeseman v. Platkin, along with other case information, can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“AR-15 rifles are among the most popular firearms in the nation, and they are owned by millions of Americans,” the complaint says. “New Jersey’s Ban unconstitutionally infringes upon Plaintiffs’ fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms” “New Jersey’s Ban and Defendants’ actual and threatened enforcement of the same must be declared unconstitutional and enjoined under the Second Amendment’s text, informed by relevant history, and the Supreme Court’s precedents so that Plaintiffs Cheeseman and Connolly, all similarly situated members of Plaintiff FPC, and non-prohibited individuals like them can exercise their constitutional right to keep and bear these common firearms for lawful purposes like self-defense.”

“There’s no question here,” said FPC Policy Counsel Matthew Larosiere. “New Jersey’s ban spits in the face of not only the constitution, but all the peaceable people of New Jersey. The type of arms targeted by New Jersey’s ban are both constitutionally protected and dearly needed by the People. We are excited to help vindicate the rights of New Jersians and put an end to this immoral overreach on the part of the government.”.” Read more

Dover, DE — Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to Delaware Governor John Carney’s signing of multiple gun control bills:

The Delaware legislature chose to follow other hostile regimes, desperate to restrict the rights of the people despite the Second Amendment’s unqualified command, by advancing multiple pieces of anti-rights legislation to Governor John Carney’s desk. Today, with Governor Carney’s stamp of approval, this package of bills promises to further throttle liberty in The First State. The six bills signed this afternoon include a ban on the sale of “assault weapons” (House Bill 450), a ban on possession of standard-capacity magazines (Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 6), prohibiting peaceable adults under the age of 21 from purchasing most firearms (House Bill 451), and an attempt to expose gun manufacturers and firearm dealers to frivolous lawsuits (Senate Bill 302).

In choosing to embrace this terrible package in its entirety, Governor Carney has exhibited a clear contempt for the natural rights of his constituents. By further restricting–at threat of violent enforcement and jail time–Delaware residents’ ability to protect themselves, Governor Carney has failed the people of Delaware. Read more

Albany, NY (July 01, 2022) — Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s signing of Senate Bill 51001:

Within hours of the Supreme Court’s ruling in NYSRPA v. Bruen, New York Governor Kathy Hochul publicly declared that she would be calling an extraordinary legislative session to counter the Court’s invalidation of New York’s concealed carry law. The New York legislature, at Hochul’s behest, rushed to pass Senate Bill 51001–the legislative vehicle for New York’s desperate, flailing temper tantrum of a response to Bruen–before legislators, or the public, were able to review the text of the bill, sending it to an all-too-eager Hochul for her signature.

This measure will, among other punitive and prohibitive provisions, broadly expand not only the onerous burdens to acquire government permission slips for the exercise of fundamental rights, but also throttle the locations New Yorkers might actually exercise those rights.

With the stroke of a pen, Hochul has promised The Empire State that she wishes to lock more of its residents in government run cages, with no regard for their personal safety, dignity, or liberty. Read more

Sacramento, CA — Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to the recent data leak of gun owners’ sensitive data:

Earlier this week, California Attorney General Rob Bonta boasted in a press release that his Department of Justice had created a firearms dashboard portal to increase “transparency,” which resulted in the wholesale exposure of the personal information–including license to carry information–related to the gun owners who have complied with California’s onerous gun restrictions.

There is no way to sugarcoat the horrible violation of trust committed against Californians this week. What is most troubling, though, is that this was completely foreseeable. Be it by malice or incompetence, countless times throughout history, when the people have entrusted the government with sensitive information–information which, in the wrong hands, could do great harm–we have seen that trust broken. The simple, time-proven fact is that the government cannot be trusted with lists relating to gun owners. Read more

WASHINGTON, DC – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that the United States Supreme Court has granted, vacated, and remanded its Bianchi v. Frosh lawsuit, which challenges Maryland’s ban on so-called “assault weapons.” The case will now return to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals “for further consideration in light of New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen.” The order and other case documents can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

Bianchi was filed in December 2020 and was dismissed sua sponte by the Court in March 2021. It was then dismissed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, who said it was “squarely foreclosed by this court’s decision in Kolbe v. Hogan.” FPC filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court, who held the case pending the outcome of NYSRPA v. Bruen. With Bruen now decided, the court has returned the case to the Fourth Circuit where it can now proceed.

“This is an important moment,” said FPC Policy Counsel Matthew Larosiere. “We have suffered at the hands of government actors who felt empowered by a lack of clear standards from the Supreme Court. All too often, horrible restrictions which threaten jail time for simply owning a common type of arm–one the people have an undeniable right to–were allowed to stand. This case presents one of the first opportunities to give force to our right to these common firearms, and we intend to see it through.”

In addition to Bianchi, the Supreme Court today vacated and remanded three other Second Amendment lawsuits: ANJRPC v. Bruck (challenging New Jersey’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds), Duncan v. Bonta (challenging California’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds), and Young v. Hawaii (challenging Hawaii’s laws preventing people from carrying firearms in public for self-defense.) Read more