https://www.reuters.com/articl...l&utm_source=Twitter

U.S. appeals court: Constitution gives right to carry gun in public

A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects a right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense, rejecting a claim by Hawaii officials that the right only applies to guns kept at home.

The extent of the right to gun ownership protected by the Second Amendment is one of the most hotly contested debates in the United States, where life has been punctuated by a steady stream of mass shootings.

The ruling issued by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, came a year after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule either way on the carrying of guns in public.

Two of the three 9th Circuit judges voted to reverse a decision by the U.S. District Court in Hawaii that state officials did not infringe on the rights of George Young, the plaintiff, in twice denying him a permit to carry a gun outside.

“We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote in Tuesday’s ruling. “But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.”

The decision did not change the court’s earlier ruling that the Second Amendment does not guarantee a right to carry concealed firearms in public.

Judge Richard Clifton dissented from the ruling, saying the Second Amendment does not preclude the sort of licensing rules used in Hawaii and elsewhere.

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep guns at home for self-defense in District of Columbia v. Heller.

The Second Amendment was adopted in 1789 and reads: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

If not reversed by SCOTUS (which I would doubt), that decision will have far-reaching consequences, I think.

flashguy

Not a decision I would have expected from the 9th.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects a right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense, rejecting a claim by Hawaii officials that the right only applies to guns kept at home.

Where in the hell does this ridiculous "at home" argument come from? Just more federal judges making the law rather than upholding it I guess. But color me shocked the 9th circus even entertained this issue.

It the legal beagle Onion, right?

If true, well holy moly.

Opinion at http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/da...8/07/24/12-17808.pdf

A three-judge panel. HI will certainly ask for en banc review.

There is hope for the 9th after all. I am surprised but very happy. I also feel it will be very safe in the Supreme court if it gets there in the next year..

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment protects a right to openly carry a gun in public for self-defense, rejecting a claim by Hawaii officials that the right only applies to guns kept at home.

Where in the hell does this ridiculous "at home" argument come from? Just more federal judges making the law rather than upholding it I guess. But color me shocked the 9th circus even entertained this issue.

From the dissent: “the Second Amendment’s core concerns are strongest inside hearth and home,“

Seems this is also found in Heller and in a couple of prior rulings.

Interesting is that the dissent goes on about Hawaii having concealed carry laws. In 2014 the 9th found those laws unconstitutional and “may issue” really was “no issue.” Sadly the court allowed that unconstitutional laws to continue pending appeal. This lead to the same games that Washington DC has tried. Delay, appeal, and more delay.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Not a decision I would have expected from the 9th.

It's like being in the Twilight Zone this past week as they got a 2A case right last week too.

IMO The 9th is scared shitless the scotus will overturn then especially once Kavanaugh gets seated.

I'm sure this will be appealed. Let's see what happens when it gets to the full circuit. Something like this needs to get to the SCOTUS.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Not a decision I would have expected from the 9th.

What's up with the 9th, did they somehow read the Constitution?

quote:

A three-judge panel. HI will certainly ask for en banc review.

You're absolutely right. And SCOTUS' unwillingness to hear gun rights cases in recent years is what's enabled the 9th Circuit to reverse every favorable gun rights ruling through en banc. They've even called for en banc review sua sponte (without the parties asking) in recent years.

It’s like the 9th got off drugs and went through rehab or somethin’

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
I may be wrong but I think if it is appealed it will be up to the SCOTUS to decide whether to hear it or let it stand.

I'll give you 3 to 1 odds that SCOTUS will continue down their current path and refuse to take this up. SCOTUS has demonstrated a complete unwillingness to go any further than Heller at this point in time.

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
IMO The 9th is scared shitless the scotus will overturn then especially once Kavanaugh gets seated.

They don't give two shits, if they did they wouldn't be called the Ninth Circus. The Supreme Court only affirms one out of five of their rulings.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...or_the_Ninth_Circuit

quote:

Rate of overturned decisions Edit
From 1999 to 2008, of the 0.151% of Ninth Circuit Court rulings that were reviewed by the Supreme Court, 20% were affirmed, 19% were vacated, and 61% were reversed; the median reversal rate for all federal appellate courts was 68.29% for the same period.[7] From 2010 to 2015, of the cases it accepted to review, the Supreme Court reversed around 79 percent of the cases from the Ninth Circuit, ranking its reversal rate third among the circuits; the median reversal rate for all federal circuits for the same time period was around 70 percent.[8]

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
I may be wrong but I think if it is appealed it will be up to the SCOTUS to decide whether to hear it or let it stand.

I'll give you 3 to 1 odds that SCOTUS will continue down their current path and refuse to take this up. SCOTUS has demonstrated a complete unwillingness to go any further than Heller at this point in time.

I know I must be missing something, but why would we want this to go to the Supreme Court when the ruling is already favorable to us? Is it so that the ruling is made even more concrete?

quote:

I may be wrong but I think if it is appealed it will be up to the SCOTUS to decide whether to hear it or let it stand.There are no other reviews.

Most of the U.S. Courts of Appeals have an en banc re-hearing that the parties can ask for or that the court can decide to hold on its on. When its asked for, the judges in that circuit will vote on whether they think the case is important enough to be re-heard en banc. If selected, they will re-hear the case and the en banc decision will overrule the 3-judge panel's decision. In the 9th Circuit, 11 of the 29 judges go on a panel to re-hear the case if its selected for en banc review. The judges who are selected are supposed to be at random, but since there are more liberal judges in the 9th circuit, there is a likelihood that a majority of the 11 will be liberal.

After the en banc decision is released, or the court makes a statement that en banc reviewed was denied, the parties can file a petition for writ of certiorari with SCOTUS. On these petitions, it is up to SCOTUS to decide whether they want to hear the case. Four of the nine must vote to hear the case or the cert will be denied and the en banc decision will stand.

You can't hit a home run until the other side pitches the ball. Once the three-judge panel's decision has been reviewed on appeal by the full 9th Circuit, it can be appealed to the US Supreme Court. The more gun cases pass through the full 9th Circuit, the higher the probability of the Supreme Court finding a case it deems fit to rule on. Once Kavanaugh's on the Supreme Court, the odds of a pro-Second Amendment decision go 'way up.

Nothing's guaranteed, obviously, but the more opportunities there are for something good to happen the better.