Motion for Summary Judgment Filed in Lawsuit Challenging California’s Age-Based Firearm Purchase Ban

Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation (FPCAF) announced the filing of a motion for summary judgment in their lawsuit challenging California’s age-based ban on firearms purchases by peaceable adults under the age of 21. The motion in Chavez v. Bonta can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“It is undisputed that Section 27510 prohibits legal adults from purchasing firearms both through any commercial sale or private sale between two non-licensed California residents in the same manner as any other law-abiding legal adult over 21 in California would be permitted to do,” argues the brief. “There is also not a single restriction before, during, or after the Founding era, and continuing through into the 20th Century, that prohibited the ability of an adult from purchasing a firearm based on their age. Because Defendants cannot justify their statutory scheme under the Bruen legal framework, the age-based prohibition violates the Second Amendment and must be declared unconstitutional and permanently enjoined.”

“While we’ve experienced monumental success in striking down California’s unconstitutional gun control laws, we are far from done,” said Cody J. Wisniewski, FPC Action Foundation’s Vice President and General Counsel, and counsel for FPC. “With this brief, we fully address the merits of our challenge to California’s ban on 18-to-20-year-old adults acquiring arms. As numerous Courts across the nation have found, bans such as these are flatly unconstitutional and have no basis in history.”

FPC and FPCAF are joined in this case by two individual members, Poway Weapons and Gear, North County Shooting Center, California Gun Rights Foundation, and the Second Amendment Foundation.

Individuals who would like to join the FPC Grassroots Army and support important pro-rights lawsuits and programs like these can learn more at FirearmsPolicy.org. Individuals and organizations wanting to support charitable efforts in support of the restoration of Second Amendment and other natural rights can also make a tax-deductible donation to the FPC Action Foundation. For more on FPC’s lawsuits and other pro-Second Amendment initiatives, visit FPCLegal.org and follow FPC on Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, YouTube.

About Firearms Policy Coalition

Firearms Policy Coalition (firearmspolicy.org), a 501(c)(4) nonprofit membership organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty, defend constitutional rights, advance individual liberty, and restore freedom. FPC’s efforts are focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and adjacent issues including freedom of speech, due process, unlawful searches and seizures, separation of powers, asset forfeitures, privacy, encryption, and limited government. The FPC team are next-generation advocates working to achieve the Organization’s strategic objectives through litigation, research, scholarly publications, amicus briefing, legislative and regulatory action, grassroots activism, education, outreach, and other programs.

FPC Law (FPCLaw.org) is the nation’s first and largest public interest legal team focused on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the leader in the Second Amendment litigation and research space.

FPC Action Foundation (FPCActionFoundation.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, exists to create a world of maximal human liberty through charitable legal action, public policy, education, and research programs.