Highest court has to review gun rulings
If the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ recent ruling striking down restrictions on concealed- carry gun permits is allowed to stand, California will become a more dangerous place.
The court ruled Feb. 13 that San Diego County’s rules requiring applicants to show “good cause” to carry a concealed weapon are an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment. Since the state also bans the open carrying of guns, regulations like these amount to a near- total ban on the ability to defend oneself in public, the court said.
“We are not holding that the Second Amendment requires the states to permit concealed carry,” wrote Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain. “But the Second Amendment does require that the states permit some form of carry for self- defense outside the home.”
Fortunately, the ruling is on hold pending appeal — and the Supreme Court really needs to take up this case. Other circuit courts have upheld concealedcarry rules, and states and communities trying to limit gun violence need clarity on what they can and can’t require. The Second Amendment, like the First, is not absolute.
There is a problem with concealed- carry rules in California: their subjectivity, which makes them ripe for abuse.
In Santa Clara County, Tom Scocca sued Sheriff Laurie Smith in 2011, arguing that he was denied a permit when others with less need received them. A Mercury News analysis that year found that of the county’s 49 civilian permit holders, 13 were Smith campaign contributors.
After that, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to standardize the process and require that applicants be told the reason if a permit is denied. Lawmakers should begin looking at other ways to ensure fairness— and at alternatives for protecting the public if a concealed- weapons permit is available to anyone who passes a background check and takes a safety course.
The deaths of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis in Florida show what happens when guns proliferate in public: People use them to resolve disputes when they could walk away. And people who don’t properly handle weapons put us all in greater danger. Check # gunfail on Twitter for an idea of how widespread this is.
In California, highly populated communities are less likely than rural areas to grant permits. Fresno County, for example, has granted more than 6,000, while San Francisco has granted two— a reflection of the values of these areas and the varying levels of danger posed by weapons carried in public.
It’s urban areas, including much of Santa Clara County, that face the greatest peril if the Supreme Court agrees with the 9th Circuit’s decision. California’s strict gun safety regime would be seriously undermined, and we would all have to grapple with the consequences.