Late Friday News No. 2 - From Firearms Policy Coalition

A coalition of firearms and civil rights groups filed an amicus brief supporting the writ of certiorari by the petitioners in Silvester et al v. Becerra. The lead organization in the brief is the Firearms Policy Coalition which was joined in the brief by the Firearms Policy Foundation, the Madison Foundation, and Gunowners of California.

From FPC:

4 Gun Rights Groups Submit to Supreme Court Urging Review of Awful 9th Circuit Ruling that Upheld 10-Day Waiting Period

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 26, 2017) — Today, counsel for civil rights advocacy organizations Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF), Madison Society Foundation (MSF) and Gun Owners of California (GOC) filed a “friends of the court” brief with the U.S. Supreme Court encouraging their grant of review of a 9th Circuit ruling that upheld the state’s 10-day waiting period. 

Attorney Raymond M. DiGuiseppe, a former California deputy attorney general, authored the brief which argues, among other things, that Supreme Court review is necessary “to reestablish the rule of law and halt the trend of judicial obstructionism” that is “jeopardizing” the constitutional protections of the Second Amendment. 

“This is not the first time the Ninth Circuit has played ‘fast and loose’ with the Court’s Second Amendment jurisprudence to fend off constitutional claims – nor will it be the last if this Court does not step in,” the brief said.

“Too many times we have seen courts like the Ninth Circuit treat the Second Amendment is if it was an unfortunate afterthought rather than a core part of the Bill of Rights,” noted Jonathan Jensen, FPF’s vice-chairman. “This case exemplifies everything that is wrong with Second Amendment jurisprudence today.”

Said FPC Vice President Alan Normandy, “The State did not prove its case, but the 9th Circuit jumped through hoops to give them the win anyway. That kind of a foul ball undermines the integrity of the court system itself.”

“As the Supreme Court has held, the Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” DiGuiseppe explained. “Unfortunately, some lower courts have used their relative inaction as a signal for defining it however they prefer, even in contravention to the Court’s precedents. That must not be allowed to continue.”

A copy of the brief can be viewed or downloaded at https://www.firearmspolicy.org/legal