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CINCINNATI, OH – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation announced its successful appeal in Oakland Tactical Supply, LLC v. Howell Township, Michigan, which challenges zoning restrictions imposed by the Township that prohibit shooting ranges for long guns. Because of this key decision, the case can now proceed at the trial court under the standard outlined in NYSRPA v. Bruen. The opinion can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The district court should decide, in the first instance, whether Oakland Tactical’s proposed course of conduct is covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment,” reads the Sixth Circuit’s decision. “If the district court concludes that Oakland Tactical’s proposed course of conduct is covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment, it should then determine whether historical evidence—to be produced by the Township in the first instance—demonstrates that the Ordinance’s shooting-range regulations are consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

“Howell Township must now prove that its training restrictions are based on analogous historical regulations,” said FPC Law’s Director of Constitutional Studies, Joseph Greenlee. “And because analogous historical regulations do not exist, we’re optimistic that the Township’s restrictions will be held unconstitutional.” Read more

RICHMOND, VA – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of an important appellate brief, joined by FPC Action Foundation and Independence Institute, in Maryland Shall Issue v. Hogan, a case that challenges Maryland’s gun licensing and training requirements. The brief can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“No law during the colonial, founding, or early republic periods required any American citizen to obtain a license before possessing a firearm,” argues the brief. “Only overtly racist licensing laws existed, which targeted slaves, free African Americans, and Indians—all of whom were denied Second Amendment protections. These discriminatory laws do not justify Maryland’s licensing law, and to the contrary, reveal its unconstitutionality.” Read more

FORT WORTH, TX – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a new lawsuit challenging the ATF’s rule that would create new terms and enact a slew of regulations for the agency to enforce, including ones that would treat non-frames and non-receivers as if they were actual frames and receivers of weapons. The complaint in VanDerStok v. Garland can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The Final Rule defies the plain language of the [Gun Control Act] and longstanding agency interpretation suggesting that the items at issue here, sometimes colloquially referred to as receiver blanks, unfinished frames or receivers, or 80% frames or receivers, are not firearms,” says the complaint. “Through this rulemaking, however, the Agencies are attempting to create a broad, sweeping definition by including items that are not yet the ‘frames or receivers’ of such weapons and by including ‘frame or receiver kits.’”

“Neither the president nor any federal agency has the power to make law,” said FPC’s Senior Attorney for Constitutional Litigation Cody J. Wisniewski. “The Constitution is clear–Congress has the power to make law, and the Executive Branch is limited to enforcing that law. But here, President Biden openly admitted that he would circumvent Congress and have the DOJ and ATF issue new regulations that go well beyond congressionally-established law and seek to greatly expand the ATF’s reach. FPC will not stand idly by while the federal government tramples the rights of peaceable individuals through agency rulemaking.” Read more