Gun rights group sues D.C. over concealed carry laws

A gun rights advocacy group filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the Districts newly enacted concealed carry laws on behalf of three men who were denied permits to carry firearms by the Metropolitan Police Department.

In the lawsuit filed in federal court, the Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation alleges that the laws requirement gun owners demonstrate a good reason to carry a concealed weapon is unconstitutional.

The city has set the bar so high that it relegates a fundamental civil right to the status of a heavily-regulated government privilege, said Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. Law-abiding citizens who clear background checks and are allowed to have handguns in their homes are being unnecessarily burdened with the additional requirement of proving some special need.

D.C. lawmakers approved new concealed carry laws last year to comply with a ruling by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. that overturned the Districts ban on the carrying of firearms in public. The legislation has come under fire from gun owners who said the laws were so restrictive they would not be able to qualify for permits.

Tuesdays lawsuit doubles efforts by gun owners to challenge regulations requiring them to prove they are under a specific threat in order to obtain an concealed carry permit.

Attorney Alan Gura, who is representing the Second Amendment Foundation in this latest lawsuit, has also asked Judge Scullin to hold the city in contempt for failure to adopt a constitutional licensing scheme as the judge required in the Palmer v. District case. Judge Scullin has yet to issue a ruling.

In the meantime, the District has appealed the Palmer case.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that three men Brian Wrenn and Joshua Akery, of the District, and Tyler Whidby, a Florida resident who also maintains a residence in Virginia were all denied concealed carry permits by Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier. The lawsuit states all three men applied for the permits but were unable to demonstrate a special need for self-protection distinguishable from the general community or provide evidence showing they have been subject to specific threats or previous attacks.

The Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately have a response to the lawsuit.

The concealed carry laws adopted by D.C. lawmakers established a Concealed Pistol Licensing Review Board, to which gun owners who are denied permits by the chief can appeal their cases.

Read more:
Gun rights group sues D.C. over concealed carry laws