HARRISBURG, PA (October 28, 2022) – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) announced the filing of an important brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case of Barris v. Stroud Township, which challenges the Township’s restrictions on shooting ranges. The brief can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“As the postenactment history reveals, after learning how valuable lifelong firearms practice was for resisting a tyrannical government, the Founders were sure to protect the right to train when forming their own government,” argues the brief. “Traditionally, restrictions on that right have been rare. Most historical training regulations promoted training. The relatively few that restricted the right were most often enacted to prevent fires or prevent shooting into crowded areas. There is no tradition that justifies the broad and burdensome regulation challenged here.”

“The history we provided proves that the right to train was not merely an ancillary Second Amendment right, but an essential element of the right to keep and bear arms,” said brief author and FPC Law’s Director of Constitutional Studies, Joseph Greenlee. “It also demonstrates that the Township’s severe restriction has no basis in America’s tradition of firearm regulation, which never disturbed shooting in safe locations on private land. The Township’s restriction violates the Second Amendment and will hopefully be ruled unconstitutional.”  

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Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutionally protected 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) is the nation’s first and largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the leader in the Second Amendment litigation and research space.

FPC Action Foundation (FPCActionFoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty through charitable legal action, public policy, education, and research programs.