Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) has commenced appellate briefing at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Calce v. City of New York, the organization announced. The lawsuit, filed in 2021, directly challenges New York City’s ban on electronic arms like stun guns and tasers. But the case is not just about less-lethal arms, FPC says, because the appellate court — which covers New York, Connecticut, and Vermont — will, for the first time since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, have to address constitutional protection for ‘arms’ following a final judgment.
This, FPC argues, makes the case critically important for all arms, since the framework the court ends up applying in the case will most likely affect how the Second Amendment is enforced against many other gun control laws in the circuit. Moreover, FPC noted, the outcome of this case could potentially create a ‘circuit split,’ where a federal court of appeals issues a decision on a legal issue in conflict with that of another circuit. Not only would this create a situation where the Second Amendment is interpreted and applied differently depending on the geographic location of a lawsuit, it can raise the odds of the Supreme Court taking up a case and resolving the conflict.
In the brief, filed Friday, FPC argues that New York City’s ban on electronic arms “flies in the face of the Second Amendment.” Worse still, it explains, “The district court held that stun guns are not even ‘arms’ within the meaning of the Second Amendment’s plain text, and hence the Second Amendment was not even implicated, but that was an error.”
“As weapons, [electronic arms] are indisputably within the meaning of the term ‘arms.’ And there is no historical justification for banning a weapon that is both common among law-abiding citizens looking to defend themselves and markedly less dangerous than other common instruments they could choose for that purpose.” That is why, the challengers say, the “decision below must be reversed.”
The 47-page brief can be viewed at firearmspolicy.org/calce. FPC is joined in this case by five individual FPC members as well as the Second Amendment Foundation. The plaintiffs are represented by David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, and William V. Bergstrom of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC. FPC thanks FPC Action Foundation for its strategic support of this FPC Law case.
To support this important Second Amendment lawsuit to end stun gun bans as well as dozens of other cases to strike down unconstitutional gun control laws across the country, join the FPC Grassroots Army at JoinFPC.org.
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.
