NEW ORLEANS (April 24, 2025) – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) responded today to the opening brief filed by the federal government at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of United States v. Brown. In Brown, the government charged the defendant for violating 18 U.S.C. § 922(o). The district court dismissed the charge against Brown earlier this year, holding that the ban violates the Second Amendment as applied to him. The government then appealed to the Fifth Circuit.
The brief, filed today by Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi Patrick Lemon, argued that “machineguns are not the kind of arms protected by the Second Amendment,” and that America’s “history of regulating dangerous and unusual weapons confirms [the federal machine gun ban’s] constitutionality.”
Said FPC President Brandon Combs, “Acting U.S. Attorney Lemon’s horrifically flawed brief is unprincipled and an incredible affront to the People and our constitutionally protected rights. Not only does this lemon of a brief expressly advance anti-liberty arguments, it went so far as to cite the radically anti-Second Amendment Everytown propaganda publication, The Trace, in support of its position. This brief could not be less consistent with President Trump’s ‘Protecting Second Amendment Rights’ executive order.”
Combs continued, “This insanely offensive brief should never have been filed in any court, let alone at the Fifth Circuit. It should be immediately withdrawn and thrown into the trash, along with Mr. Lemon’s ability to make these filings in the future. This is a prime example of why President Trump should appoint a competent Second Amendment czar to coordinate the administration’s agenda across the government and with stakeholders in Second Amendment litigation. Our rights must be protected at all costs and the American people are counting on President Trump and Attorney General Bondi to fulfill their promise to do just that.”
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About FPC
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. We work to achieve our strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs. Our FPC Law program is the nation’s preeminent legal action initiative focused on restoring the right to keep and bear arms throughout the United States. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, follow FPC on X (Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
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