A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked the District from enforcing strict limits the city has in place on carrying concealed firearms on the streets of the nations capital. <\/p>\n
In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the Districts system that requires a good reason to obtain a permit is so restrictive that it is essentially an outright ban in violation of the Second Amendment. <\/p>\n
The good-reason law is necessarily a total ban on most D.C. residents right to carry a gun in the face of ordinary self-defense needs, wrote Judge Thomas B. Griffith, who was joined by Judge Stephen F. Williams. <\/p>\n
Bans on the ability of most citizens to exercise an enumerated right would have to flunk any judicial test. <\/p>\n
The courts rejection of the Districts gun-control measure is the latest legal blow for city officials who have been forced to rewrite regulations ever since the Supreme Court in 2008 used a D.C. case to declare a Second Amendment right to gun ownership. <\/p>\n
In her dissent on Tuesday, Judge Karen L. Henderson said the Districts regulation passes muster because of the citys unique security challenges as the nations capital and because it does not affect the right to keep a firearm at home. <\/p>\n
The ruling from a three-judge panel gives city officials 30 days to decide whether to appeal for review by a full complement of D.C. Circuit judges. If the court does not agree to revisit the case sitting as an en banc panel, the order would take effect seven days later. <\/p>\n
[Appeals court questions D.C.s restrictions on concealed carry of firearms] <\/p>\n
Residents who want a permit to carry a concealed firearm in D.C. must now show that they have good reason to fear injury or a proper reason, such as transporting valuables. The Districts concealed-carry rules are similar to those in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and in some jurisdictions in California. <\/p>\n
The Supreme Court has turned down several opportunities, including in June, to decide whether such regulations are constitutional. <\/p>\n
At oral arguments in September, the D.C. Circuit was reviewing two challenges to the citys law that resulted in conflicting opinions and was asked to decide whether the citys permitting restrictions could remain in place while the broader challenge to the law is litigated. <\/p>\n
District officials told the court the restrictions are necessary in a city that struggles with gun violence and faces heightened security challenges because of the number of federal government buildings and public officials. <\/p>\n
Gun rights groups and Republican attorneys general from more than a dozen states told the court that the Districts system is unconstitutional because the typical law-abiding citizen could not obtain a permit. <\/p>\n
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