A federal appeals court in California ruled that there is no constitutional right to carry a concealed handgun. On Thursday, a the divided federal court upheld a California law that requires gun owners to show a “good reason” before being granted a license to carry a concealed handgun.
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The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued the following statement to justify the ruling:
“The protection of the Second Amendment — whatever the scope of that protection may be — simply does not extend to the carrying of concealed firearms in public by members of the general public.”
The court was split by a vote of 7-4. The verdict was reached by following the rights of gun owners from the Civil war all the way back to medieval England. Their research showed that a majority of local laws prohibited concealed firearms in public spaces. The idea to craft current guns laws by following historical trends was adopted from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 9th circuit claims the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right to conceal carry and will allow lower courts to impose restrictions on who can carry concealed handguns.
“Because the Second Amendment does not protect in any degree the right to carry concealed firearms in public, any prohibition or restriction a state may choose to impose on concealed carry — including the requirement of ‘good cause,’ however defined — is necessary allowed by the Amendment,”
Several states have restrictions on who is allowed to concealed carry. Lower courts across the nation are divided on whether or not these restrictions violate the constitution. The court refused to comment on whether or the Second Amendment protects open-carry in public.
Many critics view the ruling as a direct violation of the Second Amendment and are calling it a slippery slope towards completely disarming citizens.
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