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Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a response brief in its Ziegenfuss v. Martin case, a federal lawsuit challenging Texas laws that unconstitutionally ban peaceable people from carrying firearms in everyday public places like bars, sporting events, and racetracks.

In its filing, FPC dismantled arguments made by court-appointed amici (“friends of the court”) defending the bans. The amici claimed Texas (and all governments) can prohibit carry by carving out “sensitive places” at will, but the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision flatly rejects that theory.

As FPC explained, constitutional rights cannot be erased with labels or policy preferences, and under binding Supreme Court precedent, every restriction must be justified in this Nation’s historical tradition. But there is no such tradition to point to, and thus the laws must be struck down as unconstitutional.

“Texas cannot escape the Constitution by slapping the words ‘sensitive place’ on vast swaths of ordinary public life,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “The government has no power to redefine rights out of existence. Our history and traditions show that people have always had the right to be armed in public, including where crowds gather. That right does not disappear when you walk into a restaurant, attend a ball game, or watch a race.”

Unless the Court requests further filings, the case is now fully briefed and awaiting the Court’s final decision. Read more

After a district court in Louisiana ruled earlier this week that the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) must turn over its member list as part of the court’s judgment in Reese v. ATF, the organization, in partnership with the Department of Justice (DOJ), filed its motion to amend the judgment.

The case challenges the federal law which prevents licensed firearm dealers from selling or transferring handguns to adults under 21. The judgment entered earlier this week stated that, “Within twenty-one days of issuance of this Judgment, those Plaintiffs…shall provide to Defendants a verified list of their members as of November 6, 2020.”

“Once we read the judge’s order, we took quick and decisive action to ensure our member data will not be supplied to anyone, much less the government,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Thankfully the Department of Justice agreed with our position and has joined in this motion to amend the judgment. However, it should still be made extremely clear, SAF has never – and will never – provide the government a list of our members, and we won’t be strong-armed into turning over the private data of those who support SAF and the Second Amendment.” Read more

The National Rifle Association—along with the American Suppressor Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Second Amendment Foundation—announced the filing of another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA). The case, Jensen v. ATF, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Originally, the NFA imposed a $200 tax and established a tax-enforcement registration regime for certain classes of firearms. However, President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) eliminated this tax for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and NFA-defined “any other weapons,” leaving only the registration requirement in place. The complaint in Jensen argues that since the tax has been eliminated, the NFA’s registration regime can no longer be justified under Congress’s taxing power—nor any other authority granted under Article I of the Constitution.

The complaint also asserts that the NFA’s registration regime for suppressors and short-barreled rifles violates the Second Amendment. The Supreme Court has established that any regulation on arms-bearing conduct must be consistent with our nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. And, the complaint argues, there is no tradition that supports the NFA’s registration regime for protected arms such as suppressors and short-barreled rifles. Read more

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) Wednesday filed an urgent Petition for Rehearing En Banc in Koons v. Platkin, urging the full Third Circuit Court of Appeals to correct a deeply flawed 3-judge panel decision that greenlit New Jersey’s sweeping, unconstitutional scheme to nullify the right to carry in public.

The panel’s September ruling upheld much of the ban, allowing New Jersey to maintain a vast patchwork of unsecured, so-called ‘gun-free zones.’ As the petition explains, this scheme “disarms only the law-abiding and leaves them at the mercy of those who cannot be deterred by a legal prohibition alone.”

FPC contends that the panel’s flawed methodology directly conflicts with the Third Circuit’s precedent in Lara v. Commissioner Pennsylvania State Police—a case FPC also litigated and won at the Third Circuit—showing the urgent need for the full court to restore coherence to Second Amendment law and reject reliance on late-19th-century sources.

Said FPC President Brandon Combs, “States cannot erase the right to carry by declaring everyday places off-limits, but that is exactly what New Jersey has done. Worse, the Third Circuit panel all but blessed the State’s unconstitutional scheme. The full Third Circuit Court of Appeals must correct this failure and faithfully apply both the Second Amendment and binding Supreme Court precedent.”

Individuals who want to support this lawsuit and FPC’s broader mission to dismantle unconstitutional gun control can join the FPC Grassroots Army at firearmspolicy.org/join. Read more