CHICAGO – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) today announced that they have filed an important brief with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Atkinson v. Garland, a case challenging the federal lifetime ban on gun ownership as applied to a 1998 non-violent felony conviction for mail fraud, urging the Court to reverse a misguided decision of the trial court. The brief, authored by FPCAF director of constitutional studies and Second Amendment scholar Joseph Greenlee, can be found at FPCLaw.org.

24 years ago, Patrick Atkinson pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 134, a non-violent crime. As a result of his felony conviction, under federal law, he is prohibited for his entire life from exercising his fundamental Second Amendment right to possess firearms and ammunition. But, the brief argues, that lifetime ban is unconstitutional.

“There is no tradition of disarming peaceable citizens. Nor is there any tradition of limiting the Second Amendment to ‘virtuous’ citizens. Historically, nonviolent criminals who demonstrated no violent propensity—such as someone convicted of mail fraud—retained their right to keep and bear arms. Indeed, several laws expressly allowed them to keep arms[,]” wrote Greenlee in the brief. Thus, FPC and FPCAF say, “The decision below should be reversed, and the ban should be held unconstitutional as applied to Atkinson.”

“Mr. Atkinson is forever prohibited from possessing firearms due to a nonviolent mail fraud conviction nearly a quarter-century ago,” said Greenlee. “The Supreme Court has held that the Second Amendment maintains its original scope, and, as our brief demonstrates, America’s founders never intended for peaceable persons to be denied Second Amendment rights. The government’s prohibition should therefore be held unconstitutional, and Mr. Atkinson’s Second Amendment rights should be restored.” Read more

Now on A1F.com: While reporting from war-torn Ukraine, this correspondent saw just how important the Second Amendment is and why we must fight to protect it. While witnessing civilian volunteers getting basic firearm training and then using that knowledge to protect and defend their freedom and country, many Ukrainians actually talked to her about our Second Amendment! This again shows why we must not allow anti-gun politicians to chip away at our constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.

Find this and other stories related to your right to keep and bear arms at A1F.com.

Contact: Brook Chiasson

bchiasson@nrahq.org

(703) 267-1327

Congress has no power to negotiate away the fundamental rights of its constituents

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) sent a letter today to the United States Senate demanding that the Senators engaged in closed-door gun control negotiations recall their sworn duty to protect and defend the rights of the People, and reverse course in their attempts to destroy our fundamental right to keep and bear arms.

“The Senate is projecting that it can be a moderating force in the negotiations to abrogate the fundamental human liberties of its constituents. This approach ignores that the Senate has no power to negotiate inalienable rights,” reads the letter authored by FPC policy counsel Matthew Larosiere. “As the legislative assault on our fundamental rights–our very humanity–continues, respect for the institutions that craft these policies will erode in tandem. As the People suffer these abuses, facing an increasing threat of state violence and long stints in a government cage, their willingness to comply will also diminish.”

FPC’s letter spotlights the dangerous immorality of attempts to “negotiate” fundamental rights away from the People.

FPC’s full letter to the United States Senate can be read here. Join the FPC Grassroots Army in opposing this egregious assault on our rights at firearmspolicy.org. Read more

— Today, the Firearms Policy Coalition released a statement regarding ongoing bi-partisan negotiations on gun-control in the United States Congress:

“The rights of the People are not negotiable.” Read more

The NRA is made up of millions of law-abiding men and women. We are parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, whose hearts break every time a crime is committed or tragedy occurs. We grieve with all of America, regardless of party or political affiliation because these are human tragedies, not political opportunities.

The National Rifle Association of America supports substantive policies and real solutions that will make a difference. Policies that will not only address these tragic and evil acts that dominate the headlines, but also the catastrophic loss of life that happens too often as a direct consequence of the current crime epidemic that plagues our nation.

The NRA has long supported securing our schools so that our teachers and children will be safe. We support strict enforcement of all our nation’s laws that target violent criminals. We support prosecution and punishment of criminals who break these laws. Indeed, the NRA supports the arrest, prosecution and punishment of any violent criminal or other dangerous prohibited person who tries to purchase or possess a firearm.

We support fully funding law-enforcement agencies. And, we wholeheartedly support the right of any law-abiding American to defend themselves and their loved ones. Even though it’s rarely reported, more than a million law abiding Americans use firearms in self-defense every year – most without ever firing a shot. What we don’t support are senseless policies like no-cash bail that create a revolving door justice system that only endangers good citizens. And, we will fight any proposal that will disarm law-abiding Americans.

And, America does have a critical mental health crisis. Many are sick, too few people are able to recognize their illness, and even less get help. The sad reality is there are too few resources for those who need it. Over the last 60 years, the number of beds available at psychiatric hospitals in America has dropped by 96 percent. In 1955, there were an estimated 340 beds per 100,000 people with mental health illnesses. In 2016, that number fell to 11.7 beds per 100,000 people. We must find a way to reach these people before they hurt themselves or others. And, we must fund places for these people to find refuge and treatment.

But, instead of acting on functional measures and real solutions that when implemented will reduce crime and will help those with dangerous behavioral health issues, all that the President repeatedly proposes will only infringe on the rights of those law-abiding who have never, and will never, commit a crime. This isn’t a real solution, it isn’t true leadership, and it isn’t what America needs.

And, that’s a shame.

SEATTLE – The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Law today announced that it has filed a federal Second and Fourteenth Amendment lawsuit challenging the State of Washington’s unconstitutional ban on common firearm magazines. Case documents for Gabriella Sullivan, et al. v. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, et al. are available at FPCLaw.org.

“This is another important case in our FPC Law strategic litigation program that seeks to restore the right to keep and bear arms for all peaceable people. The State of Washington is not exempt from the Constitution. FPC will work to strike down and enjoin enforcement of these unconstitutional and immoral police state policies,” said FPC President Brandon Combs.

On March 23, 2022, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed Engrossed Senate Bill 5078, which made it illegal for any person in Washington to “manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer for sale any large capacity magazine” (defined as “an ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or any conversion kit, part, or combination of parts from which such a device can be assembled”). In response, FPC Law began to prepare a challenge to the new ban. Read more

For Immediate Release, May 31: Contact: Alan Gottlieb (425) 454-4911

BELLEVUE, WA – In their zeal to create the impression they are taking action in the wake of two horrible mass shootings, the House Judiciary Committee will hold a special session later this week to talk about the so-called “Protecting Our Kids Act,” but the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms says this is just reheated leftovers from the long-used gun control menu that has proven to have been a failure.

The 41-page bill encompasses a wish list of gun control measures, including raising the minimum age for purchasing any semi-auto rifle or shotgun to 21 years. It prohibits straw purchases, which are already illegal. It mandates serial numbers on all firearms, ostensibly to track so-called “ghost guns,” but it sounds suspiciously like a backdoor effort at gun registration, and a prohibition on being able to make your own firearms. The bill will require so-called “safe storage” of firearms, which seems unenforceable at best. It bans so-called “large capacity” magazines, which are actually standard equipment for modern semi-auto rifles and most semi-auto pistols. There is also a section on bump stocks.

“We have very serious misgivings about this legislation,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “especially about the bum’s rush certain members of Congress are using. Congress needs a cooling-off period. We’ve seen in the past how hasty action has resulted in bad legislation, and we shouldn’t be in a hurry to pass something so we can see what’s in it.

“There is much in this bill that smacks of a registration scheme,” he continued. “There are only two reasons to register guns, to tax them, and ultimately to take them, by confiscation, or by passing more legislation at a future date which will outlaw what people can legally own today. Read more