Firearms Policy Coalition

Last updated

Firearms Policy Coalition
Founded2013
47-2460415 [1]
Legal status 501(c)(4) [2]
Headquarters Sacramento, CA
President
Brandon Combs
Website firearmspolicy.org

The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is a gun rights organization in the United States, which aims to advance gun rights in the United States via legal action, in keeping with its stated goal to "restore the essential right to keep and bear arms in the United States." [3] The FPC seeks to approach gun rights advocacy in a more targeted and effective way than the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), [4] specifically by working with targeted legal teams to advance legislation in support of gun rights causes. [5] [6]

Contents

California governor Gavin Newsom has described the FPC as a "...leading pro-gun group." [7]

History

The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Sacramento, California. It has been labeled by the Washington Examiner as one of, "the new 'pro-gun rights organization[s]'..." that began to spring up around 2012-2013, as the power of the NRA began to change and as new calls for gun control legislation arose after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. [4]

Brandon Combs is the president of the FPC. [8]

Activities

The Firearms Policy Coalition is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. Its legal team, FPC Law, bills itself as, "...the nation's first and largest public interest legal team focused on the right to keep and bear arms," and states that "the primary objective of our legal action programs is to bring cases that protect your rights and property, restore individual liberty, and help us achieve our purpose to create a world of maximal individual liberty." [9]

The FPC has worked on several high-profile federal gun-rights cases in the early 2020s and frequently works with other gun rights advocacy organizations such as, Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). [10] [11] [12] The FPC was an unsuccessful co-appellant in VanDerStok v. Garland , a 2023 Supreme Court case about whether a kit to make a privately-made firearm is legally itself a firearm. [13] [14] [5] The FPC is also a co-litigant in Mock v. Garland, a lawsuit related to the legality of pistol braces. [6] As of 2023, the 5th circuit court of appeals had granted an injunction in favor of the FPC's position and remanded the case to the district court for further consideration. [15] [16] [17] An injunction from the district court specifically exempted FPC members from the ban while the litigation was ongoing. [18]

The FPC has also carried out extensive litigation related to state gun laws. Gun laws passed while Gavin Newsom was governor of California that further restricted when and where a legal gun owner could carry or possess firearms was challenged in 2023 by the FPC stating, "...that in the now stated 'sensitive' areas it is unconstitutional to take away the firearms of law-abiding citizens residing in the identified zones." [19] In 2023, the FPC sued the state of Oregon regarding a gun law called Measure 114. [20] After the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen ("Bruen decision"), the FPC has been active in bringing lawsuits against state governments that have failed to follow the guidance put forth by the Supreme Court Bruen decision. [21]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Adam Kraut, then director of legal strategy at the FPC became involved in litigation over the mandatory closure by state and local governments of businesses, and in particular gun stores, not deemed essential. [22]

In addition to advocating for less restrictions on gun ownership in the United States, the FPC also states in its mission that it works to lessen restrictions on "blades" as well as "Other defensive arms," and has been involved in civil liberties litigation in areas adjacent to firearms policy but unrelated to the second amendment itself. [23] The FPC has raised first amendment issues on behalf of a high-school student wearing an FPC patch depicting a rifle, who was instructed by school administration to remove the patch, and has been noted for its opposition to delegating law enforcement powers to private citizens in the fear that those powers would be used to target gun ownership. [24] [3]

In June 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued a ruling that the ATF had wrongly reinterpreted a rule and therefore unconstitutionally overstepped its authority when in 2017 the agency had reinterpreted a rule at the request of the Trump administration to make bump stocks illegal. The FPC had been actively involved in this case, [25] and president Brandon Combs issued a statement on June 14, 2024, following the successful ruling from the SCOTUS in support of gun rights:

This decision helps rein in an out-of-control federal government that has no respect for the People of the United States or our rights. The President cannot change the law to fit his policy preferences and the ATF cannot be turned into his personal gestapo. We fought President Trump’s lawless and unconstitutional actions from day one. And the Supreme Court’s decision today proves we were right all along. [26] [27]

Funding

The FPC is primarily funded by numerous small individual donors, [28] but does receive some larger gifts from corporate sponsors, including members of the gun manufacturing industry such as Henry Repeating Arms, which made a donation to the FPC of $25,000 in 2023. [29] [30]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Amendment to the United States Constitution</span> 1791 amendment protecting the right to keep and bear arms

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms. It was ratified on December 15, 1791, along with nine other articles of the Bill of Rights. In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court affirmed for the first time that the right belongs to individuals, for self-defense in the home, while also including, as dicta, that the right is not unlimited and does not preclude the existence of certain long-standing prohibitions such as those forbidding "the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill" or restrictions on "the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons". In McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010) the Supreme Court ruled that state and local governments are limited to the same extent as the federal government from infringing upon this right. New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen (2022) assured the right to carry weapons in public spaces with reasonable exceptions.

The Sullivan Act was a gun control law in New York state that took effect in 1911. The NY state law requires licenses for New Yorkers to possess firearms small enough to be concealed. Private possession of such firearms without a license was a misdemeanor, and carrying them in public is a felony. The law was the subject of controversy regarding both its selective enforcement and the licensing bribery schemes it enabled. The act was named for its primary legislative sponsor, state senator Timothy Sullivan, a Tammany Hall Democrat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun politics in the United States</span>

Gun politics in the United States is characterized by two primary opposing ideologies regarding private firearm ownership.

Gun laws in the United States regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition. State laws vary considerably, and are independent of existing federal firearms laws, although they are sometimes broader or more limited in scope than the federal laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Amendment Foundation</span> United States nonprofit organization that supports gun rights

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is a United States nonprofit organization that supports gun rights. Founded in 1974 by Alan Gottlieb and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, SAF publishes gun rights magazines and public education materials, funds conferences, provides media contacts, and has assumed a central role in sponsoring lawsuits.

In the United States, the right to keep and bear arms is modulated by a variety of state and federal statutes. These laws generally regulate the manufacture, trade, possession, transfer, record keeping, transport, and destruction of firearms, ammunition, and firearms accessories. They are enforced by state, local and the federal agencies which include the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. It ruled that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms—unconnected with service in a militia—for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense within the home, and that the District of Columbia's handgun ban and requirement that lawfully owned rifles and shotguns be kept "unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock" violated this guarantee. It also stated that the right to bear arms is not unlimited and that certain restrictions on guns and gun ownership were permissible. It was the first Supreme Court case to decide whether the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense or whether the right was only intended for state militias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in California</span>

Gun laws in California regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the state of California in the United States.

McDonald v. City of Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that found that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms", as protected under the Second Amendment, is incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment and is thereby enforceable against the states. The decision cleared up the uncertainty left in the wake of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) as to the scope of gun rights in regard to the states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Johnson Coleman</span> American judge (born 1960)

Sharon Lynn Johnson Coleman is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She was formerly a justice of the Illinois Appellate Court, First District, 3rd Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in New York</span>

Gun laws in New York regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of New York, outside of New York City which has separate licensing regulations. New York's gun laws are among the most restrictive in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in Maryland</span>

Gun laws in Maryland regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. state of Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun laws in Pennsylvania</span>

Gun laws in Pennsylvania regulate the sale, possession, and use of firearms and ammunition in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States.

In the United States, the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, and by the constitutions of most U.S. states. The Second Amendment declares:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

<i>Peruta v. San Diego County</i>

Peruta v. San Diego, 824 F.3d 919, was a decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit pertaining to the legality of San Diego County's restrictive policy regarding requiring documentation of "good cause" that "distinguish[es] the applicant from the mainstream and places the applicant in harm's way" before issuing a concealed carry permit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 California Proposition 63</span>

The 2016 Proposition 63, titled Firearms and Ammunition Sales, is a California ballot proposition that passed on the November 8, 2016 ballot. It requires a background check and California Department of Justice authorization to purchase ammunition, prohibits possession of high-capacity ammunition magazines over ten rounds, levies fines for failing to report when guns are stolen or lost, establishes procedures for enforcing laws prohibiting firearm possession by specified persons, and requires California Department of Justice's participation in the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1 (2022), abbreviated NYSRPA v. Bruen and also known as NYSRPA II or Bruen to distinguish it from the 2020 case, is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court related to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. The case concerned the constitutionality of the 1911 Sullivan Act, a New York State law requiring applicants for a pistol concealed carry license to show "proper cause", or a special need distinguishable from that of the general public, in their application.

<i>Miller v. Bonta</i> 2021 pending federal appellate court case regarding Californias assault weapon ban

Miller v. Bonta is a pending court case before Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California concerning California's assault weapon ban, the Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA). Judge Roger Benitez struck down the ban in a ruling on June 5, 2021. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the ruling on June 21, 2021, which left the ban in place as appeals were litigated. The panel then vacated Judge Benitez's ruling and remanded it back down after was decided. The case was known as Miller v. Becerra before Rob Bonta succeeded Xavier Becerra as Attorney General of California in April 2021.

United States v. Rahimi, 602 U.S. ___ (2024), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and whether it empowers the government to prohibit firearm possession by a person with a civil domestic violence restraining order in the absence of a corresponding criminal domestic violence conviction or charge.

References

  1. ↑ "Firearms Policy Coalition - Nonprofit Explorer". May 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Firearms Policy Coalition - Nonprofit Explorer". May 9, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "About FPC". Firearms Policy Coalition. Archived from the original on 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  4. 1 2 Braswell, Molly C. (February 4, 2013). "New Firearms Policy Coalition aims to get young people in gun rights advocacy". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  5. 1 2 Fletcher, Wayne (November 22, 2023). "What is the Firearms Policy Coalition?". TheGunZone. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  6. 1 2 "Firearms Policy Coalition". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  7. ↑ "ENDING GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA: What They Are Saying About Governor Newsom's Historic 28th Amendment Proposal". California Governor. June 12, 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  8. ↑ Morgan, Ryan (June 5, 2021). "Fed. judge rules California's AR-15 'assault weapons' ban unconstitutional". American Military News. Archived from the original on 2021-06-05. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  9. ↑ "FPCLaw.org - FPC Law Legal Action". Firearms Policy Coalition. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  10. ↑ "US court prevents California from banning guns in most public places". Deccan Herald. Reuters. January 7, 2024. Archived from the original on 2024-01-07. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  11. ↑ Raymond, Nate (January 2, 2024). "US appeals court allows California to bar guns in most public places". Reuters . Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  12. ↑ Stockler, Asher (December 21, 2019). "Gun-Rights Group Sues Pennsylvania Over New 'Ghost Guns' Rule". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
  13. ↑ IV, Antonio Pequeño. "Supreme Court Restores Biden's 'Ghost Gun' Regulations In 5-4 Ruling". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  14. ↑ Tuccille, J. D. (November 13, 2023). "Gun hobbyists (and liberty) win big in court". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  15. ↑ "Appeals court ruling deals legal setback to Biden administration in gun stabilizing brace case". AP News. May 23, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  16. ↑ "Mock v. Garland".
  17. ↑ "Litigation Highlight: Split Fifth Circuit Panel Renews Injunction Against ATF's Stabilizing Brace Rule". Duke Center for Firearms Law. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  18. ↑ Pierson, Brendan (August 1, 2023). "US pistol brace rule likely illegal, federal appeals court rules". Reuters . Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  19. ↑ Imburgia, Ava. "New gun laws aim to positively impact communities statewide". The Channels. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  20. ↑ Botkin, Ben (July 17, 2023). "Gun rights groups plan to appeal federal judge's decision upholding Oregon gun safety law". Oregon Capital Chronicle. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  21. ↑ Sullum, Jacob (November 23, 2022). "Two federal judges say New York's presumptive prohibition of guns on private property is unconstitutional". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  22. ↑ Fischler, Jacob (April 23, 2020). "COVID-19 pandemic fuels state feuds over gun rights". Arizona Mirror. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  23. ↑ "Firearms Policy Coalition Fund Raising Program". Big Tex Ordnance. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  24. ↑ "FIRE on the School Restricting "Dont Tread on Me" and Firearms Policy Coalition Patches". Reason.com. September 1, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  25. ↑ "BumpstockCase.com - Bumpstock Lawsuit - Guedes v. BATFE". Firearms Policy Coalition. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  26. ↑ Sullum, Jacob (June 14, 2024). "Supreme Court upholds the rule of law by rejecting the Trump administration's bump stock ban". Reason.com. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  27. ↑ "FPC, FPCAF Statement on SCOTUS 'Bump Stock' Decision". Firearms Policy Coalition. Retrieved 2024-06-15.
  28. ↑ Maccar, David (April 26, 2022). "Firearms Policy Coalition: On the Front Lines of the 2A Battlefield". Free Range American. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  29. ↑ Arms, Henry Repeating. "Henry Repeating Arms Donates $75,000 to Leading Gun Rights Organizations". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  30. ↑ "Firearms Policy Coalition" . Bloomberg. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.