The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a 2014 ruling that said the right to carry a concealed weapon was covered by the Second Amendment.
“The 2nd Amendment may or may not protect to some degree a right of a member of the general public to carry a firearm in public,” wrote Judge William A. Fletcher, a Clinton appointee. “If there is such a right, it is only a right to carry a firearm openly.”
Gun owners said they expect to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and also would challenge California’s law banning residents from carrying guns openly.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the gun lobby has got a lot of money and they are going to go back in for more. Chuck Michel is the gun owners’ lawyer in this case.
He noted the ruling failed to decide whether California must permit residents to carry guns openly if they are prevented from carrying them concealed. The issue in the case involved the concealed carrying of weapons, and the court did not reach the question of whether the ban on openly carrying guns violated the Constitution.
“California law bans open carry, so the constitutionality of that ban will now be tested in a new legal challenge,” Michel said.
I imagine so.