Federal Court Rejects California Appeal, Reaffirms Second Amendment Victory Over Conceal-Carry Restrictions

Earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
handed Second Amendment advocates a major victory by invalidating
San Diego, California’s requirement that conceal-carry permits only
be issued to those gun owners who could show they had a “good
cause” for carrying a concealed gun in public. According to the
government officials charged with enforcing that provision, it
should be noted, “one’s personal safety is not considered good
cause.” Writing for the majority in
Peruta v. County of San Diego, 9th Circuit Judge Diarmuid
F. O’Scannlain denounced that government’s approach as a violation
of the Second Amendment. “In California,” Judge O’Scannlain
observed, “the only way that the typical responsible, law-abiding
citizen can carry a weapon in public for the lawful purpose of
self-defense is with a concealed-carry permit. And, in San Diego
County, that option has been taken off the table.”

San Diego Sheriff William Gore then surprised many gun control
activists by declining to file an appeal and saying he would obey
the court’s decision. The state of California did not like the
sound of that, however, and promptly filed its own request to
intervene in the case. In effect, the state asked the court’s
permission to take the reins and launch a gun control appeal of its
own.

But that request
fell flat today at the 9th Circuit. “Considering each of the
relevant factors,” the 9th Circuit said, “we conclude that the
movants have not met the heavy burden of demonstrating ‘imperative
reasons’ in favor of intervention on appeal.”

The upshot is that with both San Diego and the state government
now out of the picture, there is no longer any party left with
potential standing to challenge the 9th Circuit’s decision.
Peruta‘s holding that “the right to bear arms includes the
right to carry an operable firearm outside the home for the lawful
purpose of self-defense” is now the law of the land in both
California and the rest of the territory
covered by the 9th Circuit.