Judge Overturns D.C. Gun Law

Federal Judge Says DC Gun Carry Law is Unconstitutional

A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction saying the District of Columbia’s new concealed carry law is unconstitutional.

The order, issued Monday by Judge Frederick J. Scullin, was the second decision in less than a year declaring the Washington, D.C., gun carry laws to be unconstitutional. In October of 2014, the same judge ruled that the district’s complete ban on gun carry was also in violation of the Constitution.

Scullin barred DC Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier from enforcing the city’s requirement that a person applying for a concealed carry permit must prove they have a “good reason” to need one. This requirement created a system where only those with police reports detailing violent threats against them could obtain a permit.

The D.C. governments response to the Supreme Court ruling under D.C. vs. Heller and McDonald vs. Chicago which banned blanket gun bans and affirmed the second amendment right of ordinary (read non-felony) citizens to possess guns, has been to try to find the least possible expansion of gun rights possible.

This ruling shows, as many of us thought, the current law went well beyond what the courts would tolerate.

"This conclusion should not be read to suggest that it would be inappropriate for the District of Columbia to enact a licensing mechanism that includes appropriate time, place and manner restrictions on the carrying of handguns in public,” Judge Scullin said in his ruling. “The District of Columbia’s arbitrary ‘good reason’/’proper reason’ requirement, however, goes far beyond establishing such reasonable restrictions.”

“Rather, for all intents and purposes, this requirement makes it impossible for the overwhelming majority of law-abiding citizens to obtain licenses to carry handguns in public for self-defense, thereby depriving them of their Second Amendment right to bear arms.”

Expect another law testing the limits.