SACRAMENTO, CA (February 20, 2018) — Following the Supreme Court’s announcement that it had denied review in two more Second Amendment lawsuits, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced a renewed federal push to secure the right to keep and bear arms for all law-abiding people throughout the nation. The gun rights group said that it would be focusing its efforts on a small number of key issue areas and laws that affect millions of law-abiding gun owners who live in, or travel to, states that are openly hostile to the fundamental, individual right to bear arms, like California and New Jersey.

“Having a substantive, accessible right to bear arms outside our homes is probably going make the difference in the long-term fight for the survival of our rights. That’s priority number one for us,” said Craig DeLuz, FPC’s senior legislative advocate. “First and foremost, this is about saving the Second Amendment from judges and politicians and making sure that all Americans can protect themselves.”

“We want to make sure that a law-abiding gun owner from Los Angeles can carry a loaded gun for self-defense in downtown San Francisco, New York, Chicago, or Trenton without worrying about being arrested,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “Just like free speech, due process, and marriage licenses, the right to carry and AR-15s should be available to law-abiding people everywhere.”

Other high-priority FPC efforts include legislation to pre-empt state and local laws that criminalize or prevent people from acquiring common firearms, parts, accessories, and ammunition, reforming or repealing old existing laws that pre-date D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, splitting up the regularly-overturned Ninth Circuit by creating a new federal circuit court, and confirming constitutional judges.

“The right to keep and bear arms is just as normal and important as any other enshrined in our Bill of Rights,” explained DeLuz. ‘It’s long past time that our laws, regulations, and the judicial system reflected that.”

Last year, the House of Representatives passed H.R.38, a bill that would enable people to carry a concealed handgun in any state as long as they can pass a background check and get a license from a state. Before the floor vote, it was combined with the “FixNICS” legislation to make changes to the federal background check system. In a statement following the House vote, FPC said that it was looking forward to promoting amendments to “what may very well become the most important right to bear arms bill in history” in order to “better protect law-abiding people” from “anti-gun executive agencies and bureaucrats.” H.R.38 is currently stalled in the Senate.

“At the end of the day, our federal legislative priorities are focused on reasonable, common-sense reforms,” said FPC legislative advocate Philip Watson. “FPC’s members and supporters are eager to see Congress and President Trump deliver what they promised in 2016.”

Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.