Dear Friend,
Hours from now, our legal team will file FPC’s main brief with the United States Supreme Court in our Viramontes v. Cook County Second Amendment lawsuit challenging bans on so-called assault weapons.
The question before the Court is simple: Does the Constitution protect the right to possess AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles?
You and I know the answer. Tomorrow, we will make our case.
This moment did not happen by accident. It is the product of a strategy we have been building and executing for years.
With the incredible support and generosity of our FPC Grassroots Army, we have been cutting a path toward freedom through hostile and often uncharted legal territory, one hard-fought win at a time. For example:
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In Miller v. Bonta, we won the first Second Amendment trial in American history to strike down an “assault weapon” ban—this one over California, no less. After Bruen, we went back and won again.
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In Harrel v. Raoul, we won another Second Amendment trial, this time striking down Illinois’s bans on “assault weapons” and magazines.
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In Cheeseman v. Davenport, we first won at the district court against New Jersey’s “assault weapons” ban. And last month, the full (en banc) Third Circuit went further—holding that New Jersey cannot ban semiautomatic rifles and allowing us to press our challenges to the state’s handgun and shotgun bans, too.
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Just weeks ago, the FPC-backed Jensen v. ATF case produced another landmark victory—this time against federal National Firearms Act restrictions.
Each win gives us a stronger foundation for the next critical case. Viramontes is the next major step in that strategy.
That is why Viramontes matters to everyone who cares about the right to keep and bear arms—not just people who own or want an AR-15.
Yes, a strong Supreme Court ruling would certainly help us eliminate bans on so-called “assault weapons” and magazines throughout the United States.
But the principle can reach farther still.
Indeed, if the Supreme Court makes clear that the government cannot ban broad classes of arms, that precedent will become a powerful tool for us to win arms-ban cases throughout the country.
And that matters because FPC has spent years building a nationwide strategic litigation campaign to eliminate laws that ban protected arms.
From “assault weapon” and magazine bans to handgun roster bans, Glock bans, self-manufacturing bans, short-barreled weapon bans, body armor bans, and so many others, FPC and our Grassroots Army are working to eliminate laws that prevent peaceable people from exercising the pre-existing right to keep and bear arms when, where, and how you choose.
The Second Amendment protects “arms”—period.
So our mission here is not just to protect AR-15 owners from tyrannical governments—it’s that too, of course.
Our mission in Viramontes is to strengthen the binding, nationwide foundation from which we can eliminate unconstitutional and immoral laws everywhere so no peaceable person is ever caged or killed for exercising their pre-existing rights.
Every victory opens the door to the next important win. Every win paves the road to freedom.
And none of this happens without you and our FPC Grassroots Army.
Tomorrow is a historic day for our movement.
Together, we will present our case to the Supreme Court to prove what we both know—the Second Amendment protects arms that authoritarian governments want to ban.
For everyone in America—and for generations to come—we will protect the right that protects the others.
You built this moment with us. So I am deeply grateful that you are here for it—and incredibly hopeful about what we can accomplish together.
We still have a long way to go. But we are winning—together.
Fight Forward.
-Brandon
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Brandon Combs
Founder & President
Firearms Policy Coalition
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