EUGENE VOLOKH: Ninth Circuit upholds requirement that guns be either locked or carried on one’s person.

The case is today’s Jackson v. City & County of San Francisco (9th Cir. Mar. 25, 2014). The court concludes that the ban is constitutional, even though it applies even to people who aren’t living with children (most such locked storage requirements apply only when children could otherwise access the gun), and even to people who are living alone. The court also upholds the ban on sale of hollow-point bullets, though it repeatedly stresses that the law doesn’t ban possession or use of such bullets.

The court’s general approach does seem to take the Second Amendment seriously; for instance, the court allows the challengers to challenge the statute on its face, and rejects arguments that this sort of restriction is just outside the scope of the Second Amendment. But I’m not wild about the court’s decision about the particular restrictions in play here.

Well, it is the Ninth Circuit. But I recommend they read my Second Amendment Penumbras piece from the Southern California Law Review before issuing their next opinion.