Appeals Court Says You Have No Right to Carry a Gun

You might have a right to carry a concealed gun in Michigan, for now, but any state can pass a law to the contrary.  That’s the ruling by the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The court ruled today in a 7-4 decision that “the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.” Judge William A. Fletcher, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, went on to say that a state may pass any prohibition or restriction it may choose on the carrying of concealed guns.

Here’s an article on the Wall Street Journal’s web site:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/appeals-court-upholds-concealed-carry-restrictions-1465483920

California law requires that gun owners must state specific reasons for carrying a gun, when applying for a permit.   Gun rights groups sought to have the state become a “shall-issue state", like Michigan and many other states. Today’s ruling says law enforcement officials can require applicants for a concealed weapons permit to show they are in immediate danger or otherwise have a good reason for a permit beyond self-defense.

The Ninth Circuit joins three other regional appeals courts that have upheld good-cause requirements.  So far, the U.S. Supreme Court has skirted the issue.

Two years ago, a three-judge panel with the Ninth Circuit found that the second amendment “does require that the states permit some form of carry for self-defense outside the home.”

But today, the court reversed that ruling under she scrutiny of eleven judges.

Joel Fulton, Owner of Freedom Firearms, gun rights advocate and self-described student of the constitution tells WBCK,  “There’s no question that this court is wrong, and politically motivated.  If the U.S. Supreme Court took up the issue today, it’s anybody’s guess as to whether they would overturn the Appeals Court ruling.  But, whomever becomes president will be able to appoint as many as five Supreme court judges in the next term.  It will change the course of American history.”