FPC Files New Supplemental Brief in Lawsuit Challenging California “Assault Weapon” Ban

[Charlie T Waite]

SAN DIEGO, CA (October 13, 2022) – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of additional supplemental briefing in its Miller v. Bonta lawsuit, which challenges California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons.” The brief, which was requested by Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California after an initial round of supplemental briefing in light of NYSRPA v. Bruen, can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“By now, this Court well understands the point: the State’s ban on firearm features finds no relevant analogue in the founding era, or otherwise,” argues the brief. “Repeating firearms themselves have existed from the founding era on, and the State has pointed to no evidence indicating that the Founders would have understood banning such firearms to be consistent with the right to keep and bear arms.”

“Despite what the California legislature may believe, the Second Amendment protects all bearable arms, even those with the ‘features’ that the state has arbitrarily prohibited,” said FPC Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack. “And because these arbitrary feature-based prohibitions are creatures of modern invention that have no root in the history and tradition of the country at the time of the ratification, they must be struck down under the Heller/Bruen analysis.”