About that Supreme Court vacancy
by digby
This case is going to wind up there:
Americans have no Second Amendment right to carry concealed guns in public, a federal appeals court in California ruled on Thursday in a significant blow to gun-rights activists and gun owners in a large swath of the Western U.S.
The San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 7-4 ruling, upheld a California law requiring residents to show “good cause” for carrying a concealed handgun.
Under the California law, personal safety alone doesn’t qualify as good cause, which is defined by county sheriffs. The plaintiffs, gun owners seeking licenses to carry their weapons concealed, said the policies in San Diego and Yolo counties where they live violated their Second Amendment rights.
“We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public,” wrote Judge William A. Fletcher, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, for the seven-judge majority.
Lawmakers are free to enact “any prohibition or restriction a state may choose” on the carrying of concealed guns, Judge Fletcher said.
I have noted that a lot of liberals don’t care as much about guns as I do. But nonetheless, it should be legal for cities and states to make it illegal to walk around with a gun hidden under your coat. This case will go all the way to the top eventually and it would be nice if there was a majority that would uphold it. This gun violence epidemic is one of the most important problems this country faces and it cannot be solved by everyone having more guns.
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