On September 21, 2021, Williams & Connolly and Lambda Legal filed an amicus brief on behalf of LGBTQ+ rights organizations in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, a Supreme Court case concerning a challenge to New York’s gun-licensing regulations. The brief emphasizes that members of the LGBTQ+ community, like all Americans, have a Second Amendment right to bear arms. But it also explains that LGBTQ+ people—and especially transgender and LGBTQ+ people of color—are disproportionately affected by gun violence. Indeed, three out of four transgender killed in 2020 died from gun violence.  Illustrating gun-violence statistics with stories of LGBTQ+ victims of hate crimes, the brief argued that sweeping away gun-safety restrictions entirely would lead to more violent crime and a disproportionate impact on the LGBTQ+ community. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument on November 3, 2021.

The Williams & Connolly team representing LGBTQ+ rights organizations includes Michael Mestitz and Ana Reyes. Lambda Legal’s Omar Gonzalez-Pagan (Senior Attorney and Health Care Strategist) and Richard Saez (Senior Attorney and Criminal Justice and Police Misconduct Program Strategist) worked on the brief along with the firm.

Click here to read the brief.