California is a miserable place to own a gun.
Residents of California along with the California Pistol and Rifle Association filed suit on Wednesday to block a state law prohibiting open carry. Only a few months ago, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that counties can require burdensome thresholds to obtain a conceal permit. On Monday, an appeals court rejected the request to reconsider that ruling.
Some counties, especially in rural areas, grant permits easily without requiring people to sufficiently “prove” they need a permit. But counties with large cities, like Los Angeles County, have a much stricter process such as demonstrating “convincing evidence of a clear and present danger.”
This defeats the purpose of getting a gun for protection. Most people who defend themselves with a firearm aren’t confronted well in advance that there is a clear and present danger around the corner.
“Accordingly, the vast majority of the population cannot satisfy this discretionary standard, and therefore cannot obtain a license to publicly carry a firearm,” the suit said.
The lawsuit names Attorney General Kamala Harris and Los Angeles County Sheriff James McDonnell as defendants.
Will the 9th Circuit agree that citizens should be able to carry a firearm publicly? Probably not. And with the fate of the Supreme Court up in the air, the firearms community could be headed for some dark times.
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