SEATTLE, WA (April 25, 2023) – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that it has filed a federal Second Amendment lawsuit challenging the State of Washington’s unconstitutional ban on so-called “assault weapons,” minutes after it was signed into law by Governor Jay Inslee. Case documents for Hartford v. Ferguson are available at FPCLaw.org.

"The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms.” U.S. Const. amend. II. This Amendment guarantees a fundamental right to keep and bear common firearms for defense of self and family and for other lawful pursuits.'" The Complaint states. "But the State has enacted, and Defendants have authority to enforce, a flat prohibition on the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, and offering for sale of many common firearms—tendentiously labeled “assault weapons”—by ordinary citizens (“the Washington Ban”), making it a crime for law-abiding citizens to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear such arms. In so doing, the State of Washington has criminalized one of the most common and important means by which its citizens can exercise their fundamental right to self-defense. By banning manufacturing, importation, distribution, and sale of common semiautomatic rifles, the State has barred law-abiding residents from legally acquiring common rifles and has deprived them of an effective means of self-defense and their fundamental individual right to keep and bear arms."

“Today’s filing is yet another step forward in FPC’s aggressive multi-state litigation campaign against those states that attempt to enforce immoral and unconstitutional restrictions on protected arms,” said FPC Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “Washington State lawmakers are playing politics with the natural and constitutional rights of their constituents. FPC will tirelessly work to undo these efforts that undermine the fundamental rights of the People.”

FPC is joined in this lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation.

Individuals who would like to Join the FPC Grassroots Army and support important pro-rights lawsuits and programs can sign up at JoinFPC.org. Individuals and organizations wanting to support charitable efforts in support of the restoration of Second Amendment and other natural rights can also make a tax-deductible donation to the FPC Action Foundation. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.

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) 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.