A challenge to a recent win for gun rights in San Diego has failed, bringing the city one step closer toward expanded gun permits for millions of residents.
San Diego recently struck down its concealed carry laws, which only approve permits if the gun owner proves that they need protection, the L.A. Times reports. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February that the restrictions violated citizens’ second amendment rights.
Gun activists fear that the ruling will inspire similar rule-changes throughout the state. They attempted to challenge the ruling, but the appeals panel has now said they are too late to join a lawsuit.
The panel also clarified that the San Diego ruling applied only to the city, and doesn’t yet impact statewide concealed carry laws, as the challenge had claimed.
The activists could still appeal the panel’s decision, and the case might eventually head to the Supreme Court—an outcome favored by San Diego videographer Edward Peruta, who first sued the city’s permit restrictions. Some gun rights advocates hope that a Supreme Court review could nullify many more restrictions beyond San Diego.
The ruling could free up gun permits for nearly 2 million California residents. From Bloomberg News:
The San Francisco appeals court’s ruling is squarely at odds with those by appeals courts in New York, Philadelphia and Richmond, Virginia, that have upheld discretionary permitting. By deepening a split among regional appeals courts, a ruling in favor of Peruta increases the likelihood that the high court will take up the issue to resolve the difference of opinion.
