Gun-rights advocates are squaring off with the federal government in New Orleans, asking a powerful appeals court to knock down a rule that keeps handgun buyers close to home. On May 27, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) filed a reply brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Elite Precision Customs v. ATF, challenging a federal ban that stops licensed dealers from selling handguns to out-of-state customers. The appeal argues the restriction keeps otherwise peaceable people from buying pistols at retailers in other states and clashes with recent Supreme Court rulings on the Second Amendment. A decision from the Fifth Circuit could change how federally licensed dealers handle handgun sales across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
FPC files reply brief
According to Firearms Policy Coalition, the organization and its co-plaintiffs lodged their reply brief with the Fifth Circuit on May 27. In that filing, the plaintiffs argue the ban “blocks peaceable Americans from buying constitutionally protected handguns outside their home state,” language taken directly from the reply submitted to the court and made available by Firearms Policy Coalition.
Who’s in the case
The lineup is a mix of one shop, a membership group, and individual gun owners. According to Justia, the plaintiffs are Elite Precision Customs LLC, two individual FPC members, and Firearms Policy Coalition itself. The appeal is docketed as Fifth Circuit case no. 25-11206.
The plaintiffs are represented by Cooper & Kirk attorneys David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, and William V. Bergstrom as lead counsel, along with Cody J. Wisniewski of FPC Action Foundation and R. Brent Cooper of Cooper & Scully, according to the same court filings.
Government's defense
The Justice Department responded on May 6 with the appellees’ brief, defending the statute and the regulations that implement it. The government argues the law does not ban handguns, but instead requires that an out-of-state purchase go through a licensee in the buyer's home state, a structure the brief says is meant to prevent evasion of state rules and curb trafficking. In that filing, the government asks the Fifth Circuit to leave the lower court’s decision intact, according to a copy of the brief posted by Firearms Policy Coalition.
Legal backdrop
Hovering over the whole fight is the Supreme Court’s Bruen test, which requires judges to look to historical tradition when the government regulates conduct covered by the Second Amendment. In its decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n v. Bruen, the Supreme Court set that standard. The plaintiffs say the federal interstate-sales rule flunks that test because, in their view, there is no comparable historical tradition for it, an argument they flesh out in their reply filing made available by Firearms Policy Coalition.
What's next
For now, it is hurry up and wait. Firearms Policy Coalition says the Fifth Circuit can either decide the case on the written briefs or schedule an oral argument, and no argument date has been set. Both Firearms Policy Coalition and the docket information on Justia show the appeal is still pending while a panel of judges weighs the filings.
Legal implications
The stakes reach beyond one gun shop and a few individual buyers. If the Fifth Circuit sides with the plaintiffs, it could narrow the federal government’s power to restrict interstate handgun transfers and potentially invite appeals up to the Supreme Court. If the court instead affirms the current framework, gun-rights advocates may try their luck with similar challenges in other circuits.
The lawsuit targets 18 U.S.C. § 922(b)(3) and related implementing rules, including 27 C.F.R. § 478.99(a). Those provisions are discussed in detail in the government’s filing, a copy of which is hosted by Firearms Policy Coalition. According to that brief, the statutory scheme aligns with congressional intent and public-safety goals, while outside observers have flagged the case as part of a larger wave of post-Bruen Second Amendment litigation, as noted by SCOTUSblog.
