Judge Halts DC’s Unconstitutional Concealed Carry Permitting Scheme

WASHINGTON, DC – A federal judge ordered Washington DC to stop enforcing elements of the city’s concealed carry permitting system in response to a lawsuit contending that the requirement of applicants to state a “good reason” for wanting carry permit is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. ruled that the requirement of having a “good reason/proper reason” impinges on the plaintiffs’ right to bear arms and granted a preliminary injunction. The order says that “Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and all persons in active concert or participation with them who receive actual notice of the injunction, are enjoined from denying handgun carry licenses to applicants who meet the requirements of D.C. Code 22- 4506(a) and all other current requirements for the possession and carrying of handguns under District of Columbia law…”

Alan Gura, an attorney with a long and distinguished history of fighting DC’s restrictive gun laws, represented the Second Amendment Foundation and three individual plaintiffs

“This is a devastating loss for the District and its anti-gun-rights policy,” said Second Amendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb in a statement after the ruling. “We’re delighted with the judge’s ruling, because once again, the court has thwarted the District’s blatantly obvious effort to discourage the exercise of Second Amendment rights by forcing permit applicants to jump through a series of hoops and then frustrate them by requiring an arbitrary ‘good reason’ for the exercise of a constitutionally protected civil right.”

It remains to be seen if DC will ask for a stay on the injunction.

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