SAN FRANCISCO (May 14, 2024) – The State of California filed their opening brief today in their appeal of FPC’s district court victory in Michelle Nguyen v. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a federal lawsuit challenging California’s ban on more than one firearm purchase within a 30-day period. Individuals who want to support this and dozens of other cases can join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.
We expected the State to continue to rely on the failed arguments that they have made since the case began in December of 2020, when FPC first filed the challenge. They did not disappoint. California’s core argument is that limitations on firearm purchases do not implicate the plain text of the Second Amendment and that its limitation on purchases is not an “infringement” of the right to keep and bear arms.
Going further, California argues in their appeal that the District Court’s analysis of the historical examples they used to defend the law was flawed and that the Ninth Circuit must take an even more “nuanced” approach in applying the Supreme Court’s NYSRPA v. Bruen decision.
There is no constitutionally sound justification for this ban. The Second Amendment protects “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms”—plural—which right “shall not be infringed.” FPC’s answering brief is due in late May and will once again demonstrate why California’s unconstitutional law cannot survive.
Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)4 nonprofit membership 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. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube.