Challenging Lower Merion’s Unlawful Firearm Zoning Ordinance: FOAC-ILLEA & FICG Take Legal Action
ahmedahmii30 • July 14, 2025

July 14, 2025

On July 5, 2023, Chief Counsel Joshua Prince and attorney Dillon Harris, from the Firearms Industry Consulting Group(a division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., filed a lawsuit in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. They filed the suit on behalf of Firearm Owners Against Crime – Institute for Legislative, Legal, and Educational Action (FOAC-ILLEA), Shot Tec, LLC, and Grant Schmidt. The lawsuit is against Lower Merion Township and challenges a recently enacted ordinance that regulates Federal Firearm Licensees (FFLs) in the township in a way that effectively eliminates them.

As explained in the 37-page Complaint(need to reupload https://blog.princelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/filed-complaint.pdf), Lower Merion Township enacted Ordinance 4267, which regulates the zoning districts where firearms may be transferred or sold. The Township did this in violation of numerous constitutional and statutory provisions, and in direct defiance of the Commonwealth Court’s recent en banc decision in FOAC, et al. v. City of Pittsburgh. That decision held that a local ordinance is preempted if it “touches upon or relates to the field of firearm regulation ‘in any manner.’”

While the Township originally contended that Ordinance 4267 only bans Federal Firearm License holders (FFLs) as home occupations and from most, but not all, other zoning districts (which is itself unlawful due to preemption), the ordinance is actually completely exclusionary. To comply with the ordinance’s “conditional use” requirements, one must file a copy of their issued FFL and state licenses with the Township. Yet, to obtain an FFL, one must certify, subject to the penalties of perjury, that they are in compliance with local zoning. This results in a “chicken-or-the-egg” impossibility, making it impossible to ever come into compliance with the requirements of Ordinance 4267.

Given the impact on the rights of many people in Lower Merion Township, a motion was filed in court seeking to permanently stop the township from violating those rights.

If you or someone you know has been the victim of an unlawful firearm regulation or policy, contact FICG today to discuss your options.

Firearms Industry Consulting Group® (FICG®) is a registered trademark and division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., with rights and permissions granted to Prince Law Offices, P.C. to use in this article.

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