Posted on 02/13/2014 2:27:31 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Via Gabe Malor, who’s already found the tastiest chestnuts in the opinion. The novelty here isn’t the ruling itself but the court issuing it. It’s the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the west coast and typically leans left thanks to liberal all-stars like Stephen Reinhardt. (He wasn’t part of the panel that heard this one, thankfully.) With today’s ruling, the Ninth joins the Seventh in holding that the Second Amendment, just as it says, includes a right to “bear” arms. States can regulate that right but they can’t ban it altogether. Three other federal appellate courts have ruled the other way, all but guaranteeing that SCOTUS will end up deciding this sooner rather than later. Memo to the Court’s conservatives: Grant cert ASAP, please, before Obama gets another appointment.
The particular statute at issue here was San Diego’s law banning concealed carry. The only way to get a permit there is to show a “unique risk of harm.” Wanting to carry a gun for self-defense without showing a special need isn’t good enough. The Supreme Court’s Heller ruling six years ago already guaranteed the right to possess a gun at home, so the question today was whether limiting carry to one’s own household is a permissible state regulation of the right to bear arms or an impermissible outright prohibition. Given the text of the Amendment, says the Ninth Circuit, the answer is obvious:
If, as the Supremes found in Heller, the Second Amendment is ultimately a right of self-defense then it’s goofy to think that the right can be limited to one’s own home. If anything, the ability to defend yourself is more urgent when you’re not protected by four walls. A little more from the majority’s conclusion:
You can ban open carry or you can ban concealed carry but you can’t ban carry entirely without completely depriving people of their right to “bear.”
Here’s the opinion. A history lesson on America’s long jurisprudential tradition of defending the right to carry begins on page 23; brush up for the next time someone on the left insists that these activist conservative courts have gone rogue in defending gun rights. Big question now: Will this ruling survive? It was heard by a three-judge panel, as is custom for appellate cases. But the entire Ninth Circuit can request an “en banc” hearing of 11 judges, a majority of whom might be liberal, to reconsider it. Probably doesn’t matter either way. This issue is headed to the Supreme Court no matter what the Ninth does.
Exit question: Wendy “Open Carry” Davis must be thrilled at the news, no?
“...he 2nd Amendment doesn’t guarantee anything.”
Certainly it does: although The Second Amendment does not ESTABLISH a right, it does guarantee ACCESS TO a preexisting right. In that capacity, it serves exactly as The Founders intended; quashing the aspirations of control freaks like Obama who would rather there be no impediment to government being the regulating body that decides what rights you may access, when, and to what extent.
Kudos to the Ninth Circuit for proving — yet again — that even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in awhile.
Our local High School still has its own gun range. Of course, our state lets teachers Conceal Carry on campus.
This issue will be resolved this year given the # of 'bear' cases in the pipeline.
This is so odd! I have seen a couple of sane rulings come out of the 9th lately. I wonder what happened. Maybe even they can see the writing on the wall.
How frightening is it in this land of laws... that God-given rights are even questioned by some corruptable human being?
Celebrate if you wish... but there is not much that would have stopped the wrong outcome here.
That is beyond terrifying.
I’d do it. I was just kidding.
Hunted the railroad tracks from school to home...
Thank Al Gore for Global Warming. Hell just froze over. I just saw the Devil go by, on ice skates.
The Nutty Ninth had a moment of sanity. Hallelujah!
Quick. Get the decision Notarized and put on the internet before the Leftists wake up to what just happened.
Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow!
And it is in the DC area, to about a foot or more.
Ha not long ago they had Rifle Teams as a lettermans sport in high schools, and rifles were regularly carried back and forth to schools and some schools even had indoor rifle ranges.
I know in MA they essentially have a two tired system, one lets you carry anywhere allowed by law, the other home or business you own and at a range, but must be transported unloaded in a locked box in you car, etc. What you get all depends on what the local Police Chief thinks about citizens carrying. I have heard NY is similar.
Yes, you can carry a microstamped pistol...
Can I micro-stamp a smiley face on my firing pin?
“As far as I know you CANNOT get a permit to carry in NY State PERIOD. “
You can. In upstate NY it’s doable. In NYC impossible, unless you’re well-connected.
That’s funny, especially since TX gun laws kind of suck. No open carry of handguns, very expensive permit, and a relatively intrusive process to obtain a permit (prints, photo). Heck, Maine has better carry laws. NH has FAR better gun laws. And even Vermont has Constitutional carry.
TX probably does have the best stand your ground laws, though.
This issue will be resolved this year given the # of ‘bear’ cases in the pipeline.
***That means we can affect the dialog by demonstrating OPEN CARRY over 50 states in the next few months. To be candid, that gives me much hope.
“1. Did the court give San Diego a deadline to conform? “
“2. Sooner or later this is going to lead to the issue of how non-residents can carry. Any thoughts on that? “
Cooler than that is the upcoming lawsuit that challenges the permit tax. Especially for the indigent. You could end up in a situation where the state has a choice of open carry, concealed carry, or both... but they can’t charge for a permit.
Non-residents should sue as well. Since permits in CA are issued at the county level, that’ll be interesting to see. I would think a nonresident is free to choose the county to apply in, much as they are in PA.
“1. Did the court give San Diego a deadline to conform? “
Doesn’t look like the 9th delayed their decision. They must issue the permits to the applicants in question or appeal en banc. Which SD will probably do and ask for a stay in the mean time, which the court may or may not grant.
Some folks in HI should be applying tomorrow morning and suing as soon as they get the denial.
bttt
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