SAN FRANCISCO (February 16, 2024) – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that it has filed a response brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its Carralero v. Bonta lawsuit, which challenges California’s newest ban on firearm carry. FPC secured a preliminary injunction in this case at the district court last year, and it remains in effect while California appeals. The brief can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“Though the State has marshalled a small army of historians, their evidence often supports Plaintiffs’ arguments,” argues the brief. “California fails to show that any of its proffered analogues are sufficiently widespread within the relevant time period—the Founding era—or relevantly similar in ‘how’ and ‘why’ they burden the right to self-defense. Indeed, most of the challenged locations existed in some form at the Founding, and Plaintiffs are not aware of any tradition of carry bans there—nor, importantly, has California offered any such tradition.”

“The district court has already found that California’s law preventing even licensed Californians from carrying firearms outside the home in much of the state is likely unconstitutional—the Ninth Circuit should do the same,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC Action Foundation’s Vice President and General Counsel, and counsel for FPC. “California passed this law in an attempt to undermine the rights of peaceable Californians in the face of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen. The Court should not entertain the state’s temper-tantrum and should instead vindicate the rights of Californians while this case proceeds.”

Challengers in the case include FPC, Orange County Gun Owners PAC, San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, California Gun Rights Foundation, and three individuals. They are represented by David S. Thompson, Pete Patterson, and Kate Rhodes of Cooper & Kirk and Bradley Benbrook and Stephen Duvernay of Benbrook Law Group.

Individuals who would like to join the FPC Grassroots Army and support important pro-rights lawsuits and programs like these 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, X (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.

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.