A recent ruling by a federal appellate panel striking down the District of Columbia’s “good reason” requirement for concealed-carry gun permits is a Second Amendment victory that must be upheld if D.C. appeals it.
After reviewing conflicting lower-court rulings, Judge Thomas Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit wrote for the 2-1 majority that “the individual right to carry common firearms beyond the home for self-defense — even in densely populated areas, even for those lacking special self-defense needs — falls within the core of the Second Amendment’s protections.”
But this rebuke to D.C.’s requirement — that residents “prove they have a ‘good reason to fear injury’ or another ‘proper reason,’ such as a job that requires carrying large amounts of cash or valuables,” as The Washington Times reports — is on hold for 30 days while D.C. decides whether to appeal it to the full D.C. Circuit.
Whether this clear, sound ruling from three judges appointed by Republican presidents would survive is unclear. The full D.C. Circuit has a 7-4 majority of Democrat appointees. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a wider D.C. firearms ban in 2008 but this year declined a case in which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California’s “good cause” concealed-carry requirement.
For the sake of all Americans’ constitutional rights, the D.C. Circuit panel’s ruling ultimately must stand.
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