Judge Strikes Down D.C. Gun Requirement

courthousenews.com

A District of Columbia law that requires applicants for concealed carry permits to provide "a good reason" for needing one violates the Second Amendment, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
     Responding to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2008 striking down the city's ban on handguns, Washington, D.C., enacted strict new gun control measures last June that banned the open carry of guns in the city and put in place a set of age, criminal and personal history, mental health and physical requirements for people who wished to carry a concealed weapon.
     Applicants would also have to complete a gun safety course and an interview with the Metropolitan Police Department.
     The department could then issue a license if "it appears that the applicant has good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property or has any other proper reason for carrying a pistol," according to U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon's opinion filed Tuesday in D.C. Federal Court.
     Matthew Grace, a Washington resident who owns four guns, challenged the law last December after the city said he had not provided enough reason to receive a permit, according to the ruling.
     In his application, Grace pointed to his wife's robbery, a string of other unsolved robberies at gunpoint in his neighborhood, and his discovery of shell casings on the sidewalk in front of his house as reasons he needed the permit, but the city was not swayed, the opinion states.
     The Pink Pistols, a shooting group that advocates for the lawful ownership of guns to protect the "sexual minority community," joined Grace in asking the court to enjoin the city from enforcing the "good reason" requirement, arguing the provision violates his Second Amendment right to bear arms.
     "The Second Amendment guarantees to law-abiding, responsible adult citizens the fundamental constitutional right to bear arms outside the home , and that right cannot be subjected to the unfettered discretion of a government official or to whether a government official believes they have a 'proper reason' to exercise that right," Grace said in his lawsuit. "The denial of Second Amendment rights caused by the District's 'proper reason' requirement inflicts irreparable harm on law-abiding, responsible citizens including Mr. Grace."