WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 31, 2025) – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced today that a petition for a writ of certiorari has been filed with the Supreme Court of the United States in Schoenthal v. Raoul, an FPC-backed lawsuit asking the Court to overturn the Seventh Circuit’s dangerous decision upholding Illinois’s ban on carrying firearms on public transportation. The appellate court’s ruling, the petition explains, shreds the clear command of the Constitution and defies the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment precedents.
The Seventh Circuit wrongly declared that buses and trains are “sensitive places” where Illinois can disarm peaceable people by decree. But the right to bear arms for self-defense does not vanish the moment a citizen boards a bus or subway. Millions of Americans rely on public transportation every day—and they don’t surrender their rights when they do. The Supreme Court’s review is urgently needed to restore clarity, reaffirm the Constitution, and end the lower courts’ retreat from fundamental liberties.
“The Seventh Circuit’s dangerous opinion was legally, historically, and morally wrong,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “The Supreme Court must step in and make clear that the right to bear arms for self-defense doesn’t stop when you step onto a bus, train, or subway.”
The petition and other key case documents can be viewed at firearmspolicy.org/schoenthal. Plaintiffs are represented by David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, and William Bergstrom of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, along with David G. Sigale.
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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