Federal Judge Rules Concealed Carry is Cause for Detention

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Last week a federal judge in Georgia ruled that legally carrying a concealed firearm is grounds for being detained by police. 

In the case in question, Christopher Raissi, who has a concealed carry license, was spotted by police holstering a firearm as he exited his car and headed toward a MARTA station. Once he was inside the station, police surrounded him. From the Atlanta Gun Rights Examiner:


“The officers then seized his firearm from his holster and began questioning him […] After seeing Raissi’s firearms license and driver’s license, the officers ran background checks on Raissi and held him, according to Raissi, for half an hour. The officers transported Raissi to a locked area out of the public eye before finally releasing him and returning his firearm and other property.”

Granted, the police probably had enough cause (or at least enough to pass most judges’ muster) to stop Raissi and ask to see a concealed carry license. But when a citizen is going about his or her day and acting completely within the law, that should not be grounds for being detained at length. 

Nevertheless, in the ruling the judge declared that Raissi’s license was only an “affirmative defense to, not an element of” the crime:

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