Petition for Writ - Stephen Halbrook

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No nexus exists between club membership and
competitions. A competitor need not be in a club, and a club need
not sponsor competitions or even have a range.
The First Amendment encompasses the right to “associate
with others in pursuit of a wide variety of political, social, economic,
educational, religious, and cultural ends.” Roberts v. United
States, 468 U.S. 609, 622-23 (1984). “Freedom of association
. . . plainly presupposes a freedom not to associate.” Boy Scouts
of America v. Dale, 120 S. Ct. 2446, 2451 (2000). “To
determine whether a group is protected by the First Amendment's
expressive associational right, we must determine whether the group
engages in ‘expressive association.’ The First Amendment's
protection of expressive association is not reserved for advocacy
groups.” Id. Through their association with the NRA, gun clubs
engage in advocacy. Further, gun clubs are much like the Boy
Scouts in the following respects:
The Boy Scouts seeks to instill these values by having its
adult leaders spend time with the youth members,
instructing and engaging them in activities like camping,
archery, and fishing. . . . It seems indisputable that an
association that seeks to transmit such a system of values
engages in expressive activity. See Roberts, supra, at 636
(O'Connor, J., concurring) (“Even the training of outdoor
survival skills . . . might become expressive when the
activity is intended to develop good morals, reverence,
patriotism, and a desire for self-improvement”). 25
Id. at 2452.
The Act violates freedom of association not only by
compelling membership in a gun club, but also by requiring a
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The Court could have also listed Scout programs at gun clubs.
E.g., Di Cosala v. Kay, 91 N.J. 159, 450 A.2d 508, 512 n.4 (1982) (Boy Scout
rifle range rule requiring presence of NRA member).