The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is set to hear arguments in two separate Second Amendment lawsuits challenging Washington D.C.’s carry policy this week.
Since the 2008 Heller decision that struck down D.C.’s carry ban, local anti-gun officials have constructed onerous regulations and standards such as proving “good reason to fear injury” or other “proper reasons” to prevent them from issuing CCWs. To date, D.C. police have issued 89 permits. Similar lawsuits filed in other states on similar Second Amendment grounds have failed. Via the Washington Times:
In court documents filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, gun owners argue that the rules on concealed carry permits are so strict that they effectively ban most law-abiding gun owners from exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms.
They are supported by gun rights groups as well as a coalition of attorneys general from 16 states — including Texas, Arizona and Missouri — who argued that the regulations infringe on individuals rights.
D.C. officials have argued that the “may issue” scheme they have devised balances security risks in the nation’s capital with gun owners’ rights. Attorneys general from 10 states, some of which have had similar gun carry restrictions upheld in court, defend the laws on the grounds that the “challenged regulations represent a policy choice that the District is constitutionally free to adopt.”
Read more here.
