LAFAYETTE, LA. (September 19, 2025) – Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) has filed a critical new brief in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana responding to the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to avoid an injunction blocking enforcement of the federal ban on sales of handguns and handgun ammunition to 18-to-20-year-old adults—laws that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals already declared flatly unconstitutional in FPC’s Reese v. ATF case. The plaintiffs’ brief directly rebuts the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) brazen arguments for a narrow proposed judgment that would leave those unconstitutional gun control laws in place for virtually everyone in the United States.
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In the latest brief, FPC and its co-plaintiffs explain that the law requires complete and meaningful relief for all members, not just the few individuals originally named in the lawsuit as proposed by the government. To that end, they point out that both the Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit have long recognized the ability of membership organizations to vindicate the rights of their members, and that this case is no different. They further argue that an injunction is necessary to ensure the government cannot continue enforcing the ban against 18-to-20-year-old members. Without such an order, the DOJ could still apply the law against those individuals, undermining the Fifth Circuit’s decision and perpetuating irreparable harm. They also emphasize that associational standing exists precisely to prevent this type of injustice, allowing organizations like FPC to defend their members’ rights even as membership changes over time.
“The Government’s decision to avoid seeking certiorari from the Fifth Circuit’s clear and correct decision in this case cannot afford them an opportunity to avoid the natural—and required—consequences of it,” the brief argues. “The Court should enter the judgment proposed by Plaintiffs, declare the Ban on 18-to-20-year-olds acquiring handguns and handgun ammunition from licensed dealers unconstitutional, and enjoin Defendants from enforcing the Ban to prevent sales to members of the Organizational Plaintiffs.”
In a prescient warning, FPC flagged this strategy when it first appeared in its lawsuit challenging the federal ban on purchasing handguns outside a person’s home state. Ultimately, FPC says, the DOJ is working to push all effective, cause-driven organizations—like FPC, Alliance Defending Freedom, Institute for Justice, Pacific Legal Foundation, and the ACLU—out of court altogether, and force people to pursue their rights through slow, complex, and expensive class-action lawsuits. That, FPC argues, is the point of the government’s new ploy.
“The DOJ’s cynical scheme to undermine associational standing and relief for our members is nothing but an attempt to put constitutional accountability out of the reach of ordinary Americans,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “The federal government, having lost on the merits, is now trying to rig the process. But we will not be deterred. While the government has placed FPC and our members in its crosshairs, we are proud to expose and oppose this dangerous strategy as we pursue a world of maximal liberty for all peaceable people.”
FPC is joined in the Reese litigation by individual FPC members as well as Second Amendment Foundation and Louisiana Shooting Association. FPC thanks FPC Action Foundation for its strategic support of this FPC Law case.
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.
