WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court of the United States held today that the Second and Fourteenth Amendments protect the right to carry firearms in public in the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC)-supported case, NYSRPA v. Bruen. The opinion, along with the two supporting briefs FPC filed last year, can be found at FPCLaw.org.

The 6-3 majority opinion, authored by Justice Clarence Thomas and joined by Justices Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Chief Justice Roberts, was notable in a number of important ways:

* The Court expressly rejected the “two-step” approach often employed by lower courts since the McDonald v. Chicago decision in 2010, saying that the Constitution “demands a test rooted in the Second Amendment’s text, as informed by history.”

* The Court expressly held that “when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.”

* Quoting the McDonald plurality opinion, the Court held that: “The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.”

* The Court said that: “We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense.”

* Ultimately, the Court held that: “New York’s proper-cause requirement violates the Fourteenth Amendment in that it prevents law-abiding citizens with ordinary self-defense needs from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.” Read more

Foster parents, home-based daycare operators cannot be denied their Second Amendment rights, FPC brief argues

CHICAGO – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) have filed an important brief with the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Miller v. Smith, urging the Court to reverse a misguided decision of the trial court that upheld Illinois law and regulations that bans firearm possession in child care facilities, including home day care facilities and foster family homes, and prevents an Illinois couple from exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms in their home. The brief, authored by FPCAF director of constitutional studies and Second Amendment scholar Joseph Greenlee, can be found at FPCLaw.org.

The brief makes clear that by prohibiting Jennifer and Darren Miller from possessing operable firearms within the home where they live and work, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is in clear violation of the Constitution. The brief argues that the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision requires that courts place Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in defense of hearth and home above all governmental interests, that Heller’s “sensitive places” dictum is limited to carrying arms in public locations, that there is no historical justification for classifying a private home as a “sensitive place,” and that the law is poorly tailored because substantially less burdensome alternatives exist. Read more

Gov. Kemp continues the positive trend of pro-civil rights expansion by joining eight other state governors who chose individual liberty over tyranny during the past two years

ATLANTA – Firearms Policy Coalition issued the following statement in response to Governor Brian Kemp signing Senate Bill 319. Effective immediately, the law removes concealed carry permit requirements for adults 21 years of age or older who are not otherwise prohibited from owning a firearm. Under this new law, the existing system remains optional for residents who still want to have a permit.

While tyrants at the local, state, and federal levels regurgitate tired and disproven arguments in their efforts to eviscerate the Second Amendment, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has chosen to advance liberty by signing permitless carry legislation passed by state lawmakers of both houses earlier this month. The FPC-supported Senate Bill 319 rightfully eliminates the unconstitutional permit requirement for people to carry concealed or open, and codifies the inalienable, natural right to defend one’s life. Read more

Indiana acknowledges right to bear arms applies to all peaceable adults by enacting 18 and older permitless carry legislation

Today, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the Firearms Policy Coalition-supported House Bill 1296 into law, making it the 24th state to enact permitless carry legislation. Under the law, peaceable adults, 18 years of age and older who are not otherwise prohibited from carrying or owning a firearm, will no longer need a license to carry either open or concealed in the Hoosier state. The law will go into effect July 1.

FPC applauds Gov. Holcomb for honorably siding with the constitutions of both Indiana and the United States.We also wish to thank the bill’s author, Rep. Ben Smaltz, as well as the Indiana state senators and representatives who actively supported H.B. 1296’s passing, despite multiple efforts to derail and gut the bill by amendment from the Republican Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Liz Brown. Read more