CRPA Alert: Critical Second Amendment Lawsuit Seeking Supreme Court Review

The CRPA Foundation Supports Important Amicus Brief
in Critical Second Amendment Lawsuit Seeking Supreme Court Review

The California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) is proud to announce that The CRPA Foundation has joined with law enforcement organizations and other civil rights advocacy groups from across the country in filing an important amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs in the Rogers v. Grewal case, which challenges New Jersey’s prohibitive restrictions on carrying a firearm in the Supreme Court.

Rogers presents two important questions to the Supreme Court: 1) Whether the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a firearm outside the home for self-defense?; and 2) Whether the government may deny categorically the exercise of the right to carry a firearm outside one’s home by conditioning the exercise of the right on a showing of a special need to get a license to carry a firearm?

To California gun owners, such a “special need” requirement should sound familiar. It is essentially identical to California’s “good cause” requirement for the issuance of a license to carry. A favorable ruling in this case could change the rules in California as well.

The amicus brief filed by The CRPA Foundation illustrates how such a “special need” requirement effectively destroys the right to bear arms of nearly every law-abiding citizen to carry a firearm outside their home. What’s more, CRPA Foundation’s amicus brief provides an important historical analysis demonstrating that the carrying of firearms in public was historically commonplace, and that the practice was well-recognized by early court decisions.

Joining The CRPA Foundation as amicus are the Western States Sheriffs’ Association, California State Sheriffs’ Association, International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association, International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, Bridgeville Rifle and Pistol Club, Connecticut Citizens Defense League, Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, Gun Owners’ Action League Massachusetts, Gun Owners of California, Vermont Federation Sportsmen’s Clubs, and the Vermont State Rifle & Pistol Association.

If the Supreme Court decides to hear Rogers, any decision will have profound impacts on other states’ restrictive carry laws—including California.

CRPA members should also know that CRPA continues to litigate another important Second Amendment lawsuit challenging California’s restrictive carry laws, Flanagan v. Becerra, which is currently pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

To stay up-to-date on these and other important Second Amendment lawsuits, be sure to subscribe to NRA and CRPA email alerts. And be sure to visit the NRA-ILA California dedicated webpage at www.StandAndFightCalifornia.com and the CRPA webpage at www.CRPA.org.

And, in case you missed it, as reported last week, the Supreme Court recently accepted an important Second Amendment lawsuit—thereby ending a nearly decade-long practice of the high court avoiding Second Amendment challenges. That lawsuit, an NRA-supported case titled New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. City of New York, challenges New York City’s restrictive handgun licensing scheme.