San Francisco, CA (March 2, 2021) — Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that the Court has taken its motion to intervene under consideration following a hearing in a federal lawsuit against ATF brought by the State of California, Giffords Law Center, and two individuals in a case seeking to force ATF to “conduct affirmative rulemaking regarding 80 percent receivers and frames in accordance with the GCA” and an injunction preventing the ATF “from implementing and enforcing ATF’s Classification Letters to Polymer80 (and other 80 percent receiver and frame manufacturers) and online guidance finding that 80 percent receivers and frames are not ‘firearms’ under the GCA.” The case, State of California, et al. v. BATFE, et al., can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.
During the hearing, Judge Edward Chen requested information from the intervenors as to the adequacy of representation by the federal government. Counsel for FPC argued that there were a number of diverging opinions between the ATF and the proposed intervenors, and pressed for the motion to be granted. It is expected that the Court will move quickly to rule on the motion to intervene as the remainder of the case is stayed until that matter is resolved.
“We remain hopeful that the Court will grant our motion to intervene so that we can protect the rights and property of millions of Americans,” said Adam Kraut, FPC’s Director of Legal Strategy. “FPC will continue to work to defend individual liberty in this and dozens of other cases across the United States.”
Firearms Policy Coalition and its FPC Law team are the nation’s next-generation advocates leading the Second Amendment litigation and research space, having recently filed two United States Supreme Court petitions for certiorari (review) (Folajtar v. Attorney General and Holloway v. Attorney General) and several major federal Second Amendment lawsuits, including challenges to the State of Maryland’s ban on “assault weapons” (Bianchi v. Frosh), Philadelphia’s Gun Permit Unit policies and practices (Fetsurka v. Outlaw), Pennsylvania’s ban on carry by adults under 21 years of age (Lara v. Evanchick), California’s Handgun Ban and “Roster” laws (Renna v. Becerra), Maryland’s carry ban (Call v. Jones), New Jersey’s carry ban (Bennett v. Davis), New York City’s carry ban (Greco v. New York City), the federal ban on the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition by federal firearm licensees (FFLs) to adults under 21 years of age (Reese v. BATFE), and others, with many more cases being prepared today. To follow these and other legal cases FPC is actively working on, visit the Legal Action section of FPC’s website or follow FPC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.
Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend constitutional rights—especially the right to keep and bear arms—advance individual liberty, and restore freedom through litigation and legal action, legislative and regulatory action, education, outreach, grassroots activism, other programs. FPC Law is the nation’s largest public interest legal team focused on Second Amendment and adjacent fundamental rights including freedom of speech and due process, conducting litigation, research, scholarly publications, and amicus briefing, among other efforts.