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Federal District Court Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo issued a permanent injunction siding with FPC and blocking enforcement of California laws preventing FPC’s members who reside outside of California from acquiring a carry license (commonly called a “Carry Concealed Weapons” license, or “CCW”). The injunction follows the Court’s July decision that the law was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.

The Court held a hearing to resolve a dispute over the form of the injunction. The State of California had asked the Court to issue a complex injunction requiring applicants to submit a sworn statement declaring intent to carry in a specific county within the next 12 months and limiting applications to that county — along with five pages of additional conditions and qualifications. But the Court agreed with FPC, which asked the Court to enter a straightforward injunction simply blocking enforcement of the ban altogether.

“People do not lose their right to keep and bear arms when they visit California. With this injunction, they can finally protect themselves and their families while in the Golden State,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. Read more

The National Rifle Association, Gun Owners’ Action League, Pioneer Valley Arms, three NRA members, and another individual filed a complaint challenging Massachusetts’s ban on “assault-style” firearms. Following the filing, John Commerford, NRA-ILA Executive Director, issued the following statement:

“Radical gun grabbers in Massachusetts have run roughshod on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of NRA-ILA. “These extreme and ill-conceived laws have created chaos in the Commonwealth, turning lawful gun owners into felons overnight. Today’s lawsuit filed by the NRA seeks to end arbitrary bans on commonly owned firearms and begin the process of restoring the constitutional rights of Bay Staters.”

BACKGROUND:

• • The case is named Hanlon v. Campbell, and the complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) today warned of a new Trump Administration strategy to block enforcement of constitutional rights.

In its recent brief in Elite Precision Customs v. ATF — FPC’s Second Amendment lawsuit challenging the federal ban on purchasing handguns outside a person’s state of residence — the Department of Justice argued that, if FPC is successful in striking down the law, the court should enter an extremely narrow injunction that would leave the unconstitutional law in place for everyone except two individuals and one Texas firearms retailer, allowing them to continue denying millions of peaceable people their right to keep and bear arms.

“If the Court grants an injunction, that injunction should extend no further than to bar enforcement of any laws the Court deems unconstitutional against the named plaintiffs specifically identified in the complaint,” the Trump Administration argues in its brief. “Because the [FPC] has not identified any of its members other than the named plaintiffs, the government would have no way to know whom an injunction restricting enforcement of the challenged laws covers.” Read more