In a precedential case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the court declined to follow the same path taken by a sister court and instead agreed with a group of retired federal law enforcement officers that they have the right to carry concealed firearms.

The case, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association v. Attorney General New Jersey, was originally filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in May 2020 by three individuals and two organizations—the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and the New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police. In it, the plaintiffs challenged New Jersey’s retired police officer (RPO) permitting law under 18 U.S.C. §1983 and the Declaratory Judgment Act.