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

NEW YORK, NY – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of a motion for preliminary injunction in its federal Second Amendment lawsuit challenging the laws that prevent individuals from carrying a loaded handgun on their person for self-defense in New York City. The motion, along with other case documents in Greco v. City of New York, can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The Supreme Court has now explicitly held that the Second Amendment ‘protect[s] an individual’s right to carry a handgun for self-defense outside the home,’ and it has further ruled that the ‘proper cause’ requirement is unconstitutional ‘in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.’,” the motion says. “The short of it is that, but for Defendants’ use of the unconstitutional ‘proper cause’ standard, each Plaintiff would have a valid license to carry handguns in New York City right now.”

“It’s high time the people have their rights respected,” said FPC Policy Counsel Matthew Larosiere, “New Yorkers have been suffering second-class treatment at the hands of an oppressive government for too long. With the Supreme Court pointing to the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command,’ we hope to finally liberate the people from these absurd restrictions on their natural right to keep and bear arms.” Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to the passage of the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” (S.2938):

In contrast with the Supreme Court finally giving force to the pre-existing human right to keep and bear arms, some Senate Republicans rushed to aid the enemy in the passage of the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act” in the dead of night. Mere hours later, the House hurriedly placed its stamp of approval on legislation expressly intended to undermine constitutionally protected rights.

With today’s final passage, this legislation—more appropriately captioned “The Great Concession of 2022,” thanks to the quisling Republicans who conspired with authoritarian Democrats to enable this outcome—will head to President Biden’s desk for his certain signature.

Let us be clear: If the government uses this legislation to unconstitutionally infringe upon the rights of peaceable people, FPC and FPC Law will aggressively respond as necessary to protect the rights of the People and seek every available remedy.

The Senate Republicans who conspired to pass this immoral legislation are:

Blunt (MO), Burr (NC), Capito (WV), Cassidy (LA), Collins (ME), Cornyn (TX), Ernst (IA), Graham (SC), McConnell (KY), Murkowski (AK), Portman (OH), Romney (UT), Tillis (NC), Toomey (PA) & Young (IN). Read more

“Unalienable rights are not up for negotiation”

WASHINGTON, DC — Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Senate’s release of the “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act”:

In closed-door Senate gun control negotiations, and after-hours release of text, the United States Senate has failed the People yet again in both their cowardly process and on the merits of the measure, which seeks to abrogate the fundamental rights of the People. The two-party system has fallen miserably short of protecting the rights of the People since its inception and this tradition of treachery continues today.

The proposal seeks to chill the right to keep and bear arms by incentivizing local disarmament proceedings, of which many states currently employ secret ex-parte hearings, massive penalties and enhancements reminiscent of the mass incarceration of the so-called war on drugs, naked discrimination against young adults, and an aggressive assault on peacable conduct.

This proposal is an act of violence against the fundamental rights of the People. Should this package be adopted, it will result in the imprisonment, injury, and death of peaceable people. Those who vote in opposition to human liberty terrorize the People who must chose to be disarmed or take the risk of incarceration, locked in a cage and separated from their families, their career and their agency–for peaceably keeping and bearing arms–which is their unalienable right. Read more

Providence, RI — Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee’s signing of three gun control bills:

Last week the Rhode Island legislature passed several pieces of anti-rights legislation over a wave of objections by the people. Those bills ban standard capacity magazines (House Bill 6614), a discriminatory law–the type of which we’ve defeated before–prohibiting adults under the age of 21 from purchasing and possessing firearms and ammunition (House Bill 7457), and ban the open carrying of loaded long guns in many public places (House Bill 7358). Today, Gov. McKee signed these measures into law, with fanfare, celebrating the abrogation of the natural rights of his constituents.

Governor McKee has spectacularly failed the people of Rhode Island. These draconian measures run roughshod over the most fundamental rights of the people. By denying Rhode Islanders standard magazines–which became standard because of their immense utility in defending and preserving human life–restricting the ability to bear arms, and wholesale eliminating the rights of legal adults, these laws do nothing but make clear the naked contempt the government of Rhode Island has for the security and well-being of its people. Read more