DENVER (February 1, 2024) – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of its opening brief with the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Fort v. Grisham, its lawsuit that challenges the New Mexico governor’s total ban on carry in public parks and playgrounds. The brief can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The Governor’s restrictions are particularly perverse because they prohibit individuals in locations such as parks and playgrounds—that Defendants assert are ‘vulnerable’—from arming themselves for their own defense and the defense of their children and grandchildren,” argues the brief. “That flatly contradicts the Founding-era solution, which was to ensure that all members of ‘the people’ were armed, to protect not only themselves but also the ‘vulnerable’ in society who are incapable of armed self-defense. The Governor’s carry restrictions violate the Second Amendment and should be enjoined.”

“Governor Grisham’s so-called ‘emergency order’ is, in truth, nothing more than an unconstitutional executive fiat preventing peaceable New Mexicans from protecting themselves, their loved ones, and their community,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC Action Foundation’s Vice President and General Counsel, and counsel for FPC. “Perhaps the most offensive feature of the governor’s order is that it prohibits licensed New Mexicans from possessing arms in areas that the government has identified as places at risk for attacks by criminals. In other words, the governor is intentionally seeking to disarm peaceable New Mexicans in the place where those individuals need protection the most. We look forward to the Court putting an end to this morally bankrupt executive fiat.”

FPC is joined in the litigation by the Second Amendment Foundation and New Mexico Shooting Sports Association.

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.