Ninth Circuit strikes California’s restrictive rule against licensed carry of handguns
Synopsis:
The Ninth Circuit’s decision in Peruta v. San Diego, released today, affirms the right of law-abiding citizens to carry handguns for lawful protection in public.
[O]ne may apply for a license in California to carry a concealed weapon in the city or county in which he or she works or resides... To obtain such a license, the applicant must meet several requirements. For example, one must demonstrate “good moral character,”complete a specified training course, and establish “good cause.”
Good cause had been “evaluated on an individual basis” and may arise in “situations related to personal protection as well as those related to individual businesses or occupations.” But, concern for “one’s personal safety alone is not considered good cause.”
Plaintiffs in this appeal, all residents of San Diego County, and all concerned for their personal safety, were either denied concealed-carry licenses because they could not establish “good cause” or decided not to apply, confident that their mere desire to carry for self-defense would fall short of establishing “good cause” as the County defines it.
Thanks to some recent United States Supreme Court opinion regarding a citizen's civil right to keep and bear arms, the old way of doing business in California was appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
And the Ninth Circuit's ruling...
...San Diego County’s “good cause” permitting requirement impermissibly infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms in lawful self-defense.
REVERSED and REMANDED.
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