Yet again, the Ninth Circuit treats the right to keep and bear arms as a “second-class” right and “constitutional orphan.” 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 21, 2021) — Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) issued the following statement rebuking the Ninth Circuit’s stay order blocking the enforcement of the district court’s judgment and injunction in FPC’s Miller v. Bonta lawsuit, a case challenging the State’s ban on so-called “assault weapons”:

The first duty of our federal courts is to uphold the Constitution and protect the People’s fundamental rights enshrined therein. But today, as it has too many times before, the fanatically anti-Second Amendment Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals elected to disregard that fundamental duty, ignore the text and public meaning of our Constitution, and fail the very People they swore an oath to serve. 

If this case were about a similarly broad abortion ban, restrictive immigration policy, or reduction of voting rights, just to name a few examples, there is no question that the Ninth Circuit’s decision here would have gone the other way. Just as Justice Clarence Thomas accurately explained in his 2018 dissent from denial of certiorari in Silvester v. Becerra—the first-ever federal Second Amendment trial victory that the Ninth Circuit outrageously reversed based on its own (anti-rights) “common sense” rather than the Constitution and Supreme Court’s D.C. v. Heller decision—“the right to keep and bear arms is apparently [the Supreme] Court’s constitutional orphan. And the lower courts seem to have gotten the message.” 

Indeed they have, and that is precisely what the Ninth Circuit did again today in its order granting the stay—treat your fundamental, individual Second Amendment freedoms as a “second-class right.” Rather than allow the parties to brief and litigate the appeal like it would in appeals about rights it favors, the Ninth Circuit put Judge Benitez’s incredibly detailed, historically accurate, and legally sound decision and judgment—and your rights—on ice.

FPC will continue to Fight Forward for the fundamental rights of all People in this and many other lawsuits around the country. And to be sure, neither a stay order in this case nor the Ninth Circuit itself will prevent us from aggressively working to eliminate unconstitutional laws and expand human liberty.

Tens of millions of Californians have suffered under the State’s unconstitutional and oppressive gun control scheme for far too long. Today the Ninth Circuit chose government tyranny over human lives and rights. If the federal courts wish to remain a relevant part of this Republic’s system of ordered liberty, then they should do their [well-paid, lifetime-tenure] jobs and stand up for the rights of the people of the United States in every case—not merely when it is convenient to them and anti-rights radicals like Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

We will provide further updates about Miller v. Bonta and other FPC lawsuits at FPCLegal.org.

Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs. FPC Law (FPCLaw.org), the nation’s largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, lead the Second Amendment litigation and research space. For more on FPC’s lawsuits, legislative action, and other initiatives, follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.