From the Firearms Policy Coalition . . .
Yesterday, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and two individuals filed a new federal Second and Fourteenth Amendment lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, its Police Commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, and Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Colonel Robert Evanchick, challenging their laws and policies that infringe law-abiding individuals’ right to bear arms in public. The case, Fetsurka, et al. v. City of Philadelphia, et al., can be found at FPCLegal.org.
The plaintiffs are represented by Adam Kraut, FPC’s Director of Legal Strategy, FPC litigation attorney William Sack, Raymond DiGuiseppe of The DiGuiseppe Law Firm, and Joshua Prince of Civil Rights Defense Firm.
3 years ago we forced Philadelphia to repeal its unconstitutional ban on electronic arms. Now we are going to make them respect the right to carry handguns in public in a new #2A #rkba lawsuit we just filed tonight ➡️ https://t.co/PSaxfsy0uJ
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) November 21, 2020
“The recent shutdown of the City’s Gun Permit Unit places Philadelphians who want to carry handguns for self-defense in a particularly dangerous position,” said FPC’s Adam Kraut. “Pennsylvania law prohibits individuals from carrying a firearm in Philadelphia without a license to carry firearms. And State law also prohibits individuals from carrying firearms in public during a declared State of Emergency, which Pennsylvania has been under since Governor Wolf’s 2018 proclamation. Philadelphians who do not have a license are now being completely denied their rights on pain of severe criminal penalties. The Commonwealth’s and City’s laws and polices, and their related enforcement actions, are an unconstitutional total ban on the the right to bear arms. We look forward to vindicating the rights of our clients and all who wish to carry firearms in public for self-defense.”
“It is ironic and outrageous that people are being denied their fundamental right to keep and bear arms in the same city where the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were signed,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “The City of Brotherly Love doesn’t have any love for the Second Amendment or the rights of its residents, but the Constitution and our Supreme Court have taken their policy choices off the table. FPC will continue fighting forward and work to restore the right to keep and bear arms across the United States. Through this case, other FPC lawsuits, and many more cases that will be filed very soon, FPC will fight for the People who should and must prevail over unconstitutional policies and authoritarians.”
Recently, Firearms Policy Coalition has filed several major federal Second Amendment lawsuits, including challenges to 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.