Plaintiffs in a federal challenge of the Illinois Public Transit carry ban have filed a brief in support of their earlier motion for summary judgment in the case, which is financially supported by the Second Amendment Foundation.

The case is known as Schoenthal v. Raoul and is currently in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Western Division. Plaintiffs are Benjamin Schoenthal, Mark Wroblewski, Joseph Vesel, and Douglas Winston. They are represented by attorney David G. Sigale of Lombard, Ill. The defendants are Attorney General Kwame Raoul and State’s Attorneys Rick Amato (DeKalb County), Robert Berlin (DuPage County), Kimberly M. Foxx (Cook County) and Eric Rinehart (Lake County), all in their official capacities.

“As noted in the brief,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “this case asserts the Illinois Public Transportation carry ban cannot stand unless it is consistent with the historical tradition of firearms regulation at the time of the ratification of the right to keep and bear arms. It is abundantly clear the defendants can’t provide such information, and in their response, they have failed to offer any Founding-era evidence supporting the ban.” Read more

The rule… is almost certain to be challenged in federal court.

The Biden administration’s new rule to expand background check requirements for private gun sales amounts to another attack on America’s gun owners, the Second Amendment Foundation said in response.

“This is a continuation of the Biden war on guns,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It is another attempt to get around Congress to make new laws without congressional approval.”

The White House contends this rule is intended to close the so-called “gun show loophole” and the related “online sale loophole.”

“The president is claiming this will keep guns out of the hands of felons, and he knows better,” Gottlieb said. “If history has taught us anything, it would be that criminals do not obtain the guns they use through legitimate channels, and that gun control laws have never prevented criminals from obtaining a firearm. All this rule will accomplish is to place yet another burden on honest citizens wanting to exercise their Second Amendment rights.

“Even more troublesome,” added SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “is the potential for abuse by Biden’s weaponized ATF against private citizens legally selling their personal firearms collections or family heirlooms.”

Research done by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics has repeatedly found that gun shows are responsible for less than one percent (0.8%) of guns used by criminals convicted of crimes involving firearms.

The rule takes effect in 30 days. It is almost certain to be challenged in federal court.

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

BELLEVUE, WA –– Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is playing fast and loose with the facts when he claims every court across the country has “either rejected or overturned” legal challenges against magazine bans, the Second Amendment Foundation said in response.

“A federal court in California declared that state’s magazine ban to be unconstitutional,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “That ruling was stayed, and the order has been appealed to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, but it has yet to be overruled. Washington is in the 9th Circuit.”

Likewise, he noted, Oregon Measure 114—an extremist gun control law passed by voters two years ago, which contained a magazine ban—was also declared unconstitutional by a circuit court judge. That ruling has been appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, but Gottlieb said the judge’s decision has also not been overruled

“We’re not sure why the media allows Ferguson to get away with such statements without some fact-checking,” Gottlieb questioned. Read more

The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a petition for a rehearing in the Second Amendment Foundation’s victory in a case challenging Pennsylvania statutes that prohibit law-abiding young adults from carrying firearms for self-defense and prevents them from acquiring a state license to carry (LTCF) because of their age. The case is known as Lara v. Evanchick.

The petition for an en banc rehearing had been filed by attorneys representing the Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. SAF is joined in the case by the Firearms Policy Coalition and three private citizens, including Madison M. Lara, for whom the case is named. They are represented by attorneys David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and John D. Ohlendorf at Cooper & Kirk, Washington, D.C.

Writing for the majority, Circuit Judge Kent A. Jordan explained, “The petition for rehearing filed by appellant in the above-entitled case having been submitted to the judges who participated in the decision of this Court and to all the other available circuit judges of the circuit in regular active service, and no judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing, and a majority of the judges of the circuit in regular service not having voted for rehearing, the petition for rehearing by the panel and the Court en banc, is DENIED.” Read more

NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, celebrates Kentucky House Bill 357, informally called the Second Amendment Privacy Act, passing into law. This NSSF-supported law protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms and ammunition in Kentucky. The law was passed with an overwhelming majority by the Commonwealth’s General Assembly.

The law prohibits financial institutions from requiring the use of a firearm code, also known as a Merchant Category Code (MCC), from being assigned to designate firearm and ammunition purchases at retail when using a credit card. The law also forbids discriminating against a firearm retailer as a result of the assigned or non-assignment of a firearm code and disclosing protected financial information. Additionally, the law prohibits keeping or causing to be kept any list, record or registry of private firearm ownership. The law was sponsored by Kentucky state Reps. Derek Lewis and Michael Meredith, as well as state Sen. Jason Howell. Read more

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation and its allies in a federal lawsuit against New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s prohibition of lawful carrying of arms in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County have filed an appellants reply brief with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case is known as Fort v. Grisham, and is part of a consolidation of cases all challenging the governor’s arbitrary carry ban announced last year. SAF is joined by the New Mexico Shooting Sports Association, Firearms Policy Coalition and a private citizen, Zachary Fort, for whom the case is named. They are represented by attorneys Jordon P. George at Aragon Moss George Jenkins in Albuquerque, and David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and Kate Hardiman at Cooper & Kirk in Washington, D.C. Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, praised Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon for signing the NSSF-supported Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act, Senate File 105. This law protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms, firearm parts and ammunition in Wyoming.

The law prohibits credit card processors from using firearm or firearm-related Merchant Category Codes (MCCs) when citizens make lawful retail purchases of firearms, firearm parts or ammunition with credit cards. The law also prohibits government or private entities from keeping any registry of privately-owned firearms or the owners of those firearms created or maintained through the use of a firearm-retailer specific MCC.

“Wyoming is showing, again, that ‘woke’ Wall Street gun control ideas won’t infringe on the rights of its citizens. Free exercise of Second Amendment rights can only be assured when leaders step in to guarantee those lawfully purchasing firearms and ammunition can do so without interference from financial institutions colluding with government agencies,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. Read more

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an Appellant’s Brief in 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in response to the Biden administration’s appeal of SAF’s lower court victory in its challenge of the administration’s “final rule” regarding pistol braces, seeking oral arguments apart from other cases with which the SAF case has been consolidated. The case is known as SAF v. ATF.

Joining SAF are Rainier Arms, LLC, and two individual citizens, Samuel Walley and William Green. They are represented by attorney Chad Flores at Flores Law in Houston, Texas. Defendants are the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and its director, Steven Dettelbach, in his official capacity; United States Department of Justice and Attorney General Merrick Garland. The case is on appeal from U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

“The Final Rule enacted in 2023 constitutes a marked departure from the BATF’s past position about whether brace-equipped pistols still constitute ‘pistols,’” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “As we explain in our brief, for over a decade, the agency took the position that brace-equipped pistols did not constitute short-barreled ‘rifles.’ Between 2012 and 2014 in particular, ATF issued no fewer than 17 classification letters about one specific arm brace or another, all opining that arm brace designs did not convert pistols into short-barreled rifles. But that suddenly changed under the Biden administration.” Read more