FPC files appeal brief and seeks full-court review to overturn second-class legal standard blocking challenges to D.C.’s ban on common firearm magazines.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 15, 2026) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that it filed an opening brief and a petition for initial hearing en banc in its Wehr-Darroca v. District of Columbia appeal, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn decades-old precedent that treats Second Amendment challenges differently from other constitutional cases and keeps peaceable gun owners out of court.

At issue is Washington, D.C.’s ban on firearm magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition. Violating the ban is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison and a $12,500 fine, with a conviction potentially triggering a federal lifetime ban on possessing firearms. FPC and two of its members, William Wehr-Darroca and Gary Stemple, challenged the law because it prohibits them from possessing the standard magazines that came with their handguns. To avoid prosecution, the members were forced to leave those magazines outside the District and purchase restricted-capacity replacements.

But rather than hear their constitutional challenge, the federal district court dismissed the case under D.C. Circuit precedent requiring a heightened showing of a specific threat of prosecution. Under that rule, law-abiding gun owners who want to exercise their rights but refuse to risk criminal prosecution can be denied the opportunity to challenge the very laws threatening them.

“D.C. threatens peaceable gun owners with felony prosecution and years in prison for possessing standard firearm magazines, then hides behind a court-created rule to deny them their day in court,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “That is a disgraceful constitutional Catch-22. The government does not get to tell Americans they must either surrender their rights or risk prison just to challenge an unconstitutional law. The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and gun owners are not second-class citizens. We're demanding that the D.C. Circuit end this absurd exception, open the courthouse doors, and let us fight D.C.'s immoral magazine ban on the merits. FPC and our Grassroots Army will Fight Forward until these unconstitutional bans are eliminated everywhere.”

FPC’s filings take direct aim at the D.C. Circuit’s decisions in Navegar v. United States, Seegars v. Gonzales, and Parker v. District of Columbia, which impose extraordinary barriers on people seeking to challenge firearm restrictions before being prosecuted. As FPC explains, those precedents conflict with Supreme Court decisions, depart from the approach taken by every other federal circuit, and create an unjustified hierarchy of constitutional rights.

The problem is so serious that judges of the D.C. Circuit itself have repeatedly acknowledged the conflict. In Seegars, Judge David Sentelle warned that there should be “no hierarchy of Bill of Rights protections that dictates different standing analysis.” Yet more than twenty years later, the discriminatory rule remains in place.

FPC’s petition asks the full D.C. Circuit to hear the appeal from the outset and eliminate this improper barrier to constitutional litigation. Its opening appeal brief further argues that even if the full court declines immediate review, a three-judge panel can and should correct the Circuit’s outdated precedent and reverse the dismissal.

The filings also offer an independent basis for reversing the lower court. In its recent Angelo v. District of Columbia decision, the D.C. Circuit recognized that financial costs incurred to comply with a challenged firearm restriction can establish standing to sue. FPC argues that its members' costs of purchasing restricted-capacity magazines establish standing under that decision. But FPC is also pressing the court to resolve the underlying constitutional problem rather than continue forcing gun owners to find expensive workarounds simply to obtain judicial review.

Ultimately, FPC is asking the D.C. Circuit to reverse the dismissal and allow its lawsuit to proceed so the courts can finally address the constitutional merits of D.C.’s ban on commonly possessed firearm magazines. The case presents an opportunity not only to advance FPC’s fight against unconstitutional magazine bans but also to restore equal access to the courts for Americans seeking to vindicate their Second Amendment rights.

FPC has been fighting bans on firearm magazines across the country, including in California, Delaware, Illinois, Virginia, and Washington. The Wehr-Darroca case continues FPC’s nationwide campaign to eliminate laws that prohibit constitutionally protected arms, which includes the Viramontes v. Cook County lawsuit challenging bans on so-called “assault weapons” scheduled for oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court on December 2. 

FPC thanks its Grassroots Army members and supporters who make this important work possible. Individuals who want to join FPC and support these lawsuits, research, and other programs to restore liberty throughout the United States can join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.

About Firearms Policy Coalition

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a nonprofit membership organization that exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty and eliminate unconstitutional gun control laws. FPC works—and wins—for the People through high-impact strategic litigation, groundbreaking research, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and public engagement. FPC’s legal division, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about how FPC is working—and winning—for the People, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.