BELLEVUE, WA – Attorneys for the Second Amendment Foundation have filed an appeal brief with the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in their challenge if the ban on so-called “assault weapons” by the State of Connecticut. The case is known as Grant v. Lamont.
“Connecticut has enacted one of the strictest gun control laws in the country, which criminalizes the mere possession of an AR-15 type firearm,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We filed our lawsuit in September 2022, and the District Court, ignoring the guidelines established in the June 2022 Supreme Court’s Bruen decision requiring historical relevancy, held the state ban to be constitutional. As we note in our brief, we cannot allow the District Court’s ruling to go unchallenged, because it essentially is based on subjective considerations the Bruen ruling forbids.”
“Our detailed brief provides ample historical facts regarding multi-shot rifles which existed at the time of the Founding and went along on the Lewis and Clark Expedition that would be banned under Connecticut’s existing law,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “We state clearly how the long historical pedigree of rapid firing repeating firearms, and the complete absence of any historical ban on their possession and use precludes the state’s current ban and makes it unconstitutional.”
In its appeal brief, SAF contends the District Court erred when it denied the motion for a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Connecticut’s original, and newly expanded, ban on so-called “assault weapons.” As noted in the brief, “The Appellees – after undoubtedly engaging in much research and retaining two history experts – failed to produce a single law until well into the 20th Century demonstrating any sort of ban on a semi-automatic firearm because of its capacity.”
SAF is joined by the Connecticut Citizens Defense League and three private citizens including Eddie Grant, Jr., for whom the case is known. They are represented by Connecticut attorneys Cameron L. Atkinson of Harwinton, Craig Fishbein in Wallingford and Doug Dubitsky of North Windham.