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Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) issued a scathing rebuke of the Northern District of Texas, which, in a profound act of judicial abdication, delivered an erroneous opinion upholding the federal government’s unconstitutional prohibition on the acquisition of handguns by peaceable Americans in Elite Precision Customs v. ATF.
Despite the clear mandates of the Supreme Court’s binding Bruen opinion, the Trump Administration shamefully defended this unconstitutional regulatory scheme, adopting the rhetoric of gun control extremists by arguing that this fundamental, enumerated right can be dismissed as merely subject to “reasonable commercial restrictions” and a “minimal burden on the right to acquire arms.” The district court—wrongly—agreed with the government.
“In short, the Court holds that the Sale Restrictions do not function as a de facto prohibition on possession but rather a reasonable commercial restriction enacted by Congress,” said Judge Pittman in his decision. “Consequently, the Court holds that the Sale Restrictions do not violate the Second Amendment.”
Said FPC President Brandon Combs, “This ruling is nothing short of judicial abdication. The court chose to ignore the clear mandate of Bruen and instead applied the very sort of test the Supreme Court rejected three years ago. The right to keep arms inherently includes the right to acquire them, and federal regulations that prohibit peaceable Americans from purchasing handguns across state lines are patently unconstitutional. We reject the fiction that infringing upon a fundamental, enumerated right is merely a 'modest inconvenience' that can be deferred to Congress. We will appeal this horrifically flawed decision to the Fifth Circuit.”
To power this and dozens of other crucial lawsuits to defeat gun control across the nation, join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.
About Firearms Policy Coalition
Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) — a 501(c)(4) nonprofit membership organization — exists to create a world of maximal individual liberty, defend constitutional rights, and restore the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. FPC pursues these goals through strategic litigation, legal scholarship, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory advocacy, grassroots activism, education, and outreach. FPC’s legal arm, FPC Law, is the nation’s leading initiative dedicated to restoring the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. To learn more about FPC’s lawsuits and pro–Second Amendment efforts, sign up for FPC news alerts at firearmspolicy.org and follow FPC on X, Instagram, and Facebook.
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