Good news for everyone who wants to get a Washington DC carry permit - DC permits are going to be "shall issue" soon!
The Washington DC government has decided not to appeal a reversal of their "may issue" law after the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against them.
Actually, I'm betting that they didn't do so out of pressure from other may-issue states, such as New York, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Maryland. If the U.S. Supreme Court had a chance to rule on the case, it's quite likely that those other may-issue states would have had their laws overturned. That's OK, the days of "may-issue" are numbered anyhow.
If you have already submitted an application previously for a DC carry permit and were denied, your application will be reconsidered if the justification was "self-defense."
I contacted Senior Officer King, 202-727-9741, earlier today and he said DC will automatically review all previous applications that had been turned down because "self-defense" was not a good enough reason. He also said there would be a formal notification to all the applicants about the reconsideration of their applications.
Officer King said nothing will happen until 1) the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issues the formal "Shall-issue" order to the DC Chief of Police and 2) the DC Chief of Police issues the instructions to the licensing bureau to proceed and how to proceed. This could be done in days or it could be a couple more weeks.
Bottom line is I would recommend standing by for now and I will advise once the wheels are turning. It looks like there will be nothing to do, but wait for the notification from DC about your application being reconsidered.
If you haven't previously done so and wish to apply for a DC permit, you can contact Officer King for instructions on how to proceed.
NOTE: While VCDL generally doesn't cover laws of localities outside of Virginia, both Washington DC and Maryland, which border Virginia, are of such a great interest to many of our members, we do make the occasional exception.
Here is a link to a story about DC's decision not to appeal. Thanks to member Saul Rivera Jr. for the link:
quote:
http://wtop.com/dc/2017/10/report-dc-wont-take-concealed-carry-fight-supreme-court/
DC won't take concealed carry fight to Supreme Court: Report
WASHINGTON — After days of consulting with the mayor’s office and city council members, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has reportedly decided not to fight a ruling that effectively strikes down the District’s strict law that makes it difficult for gun owners to get concealed carry permits.
Sources told WTOP’s broadcast news partner NBC Washington that Racine made the decision not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and will formally make an announcement later on Thursday.
The law, which requires that people show “good reason” to carry a concealed weapon before they can get a permit, suffered a setback in July when a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that it infringes on residents’ Second Amendment rights.
D.C. officials later asked the Court of Appeals to rehear the case as a full court. However, in a brief order last week, the court said it would not reconsider the ruling, leaving the city’s attorney general with no choice but to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court or back down.
Under the law, reasons to get a concealed carry license might include a personal threat, or a job that requires a person to carry or protect cash or valuables.
The requirement remained in effect while the appeals court considered a rehearing.
Council member Charles Allen, who is the chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, said that he was “very disappointed” that the court did not take the case.
“I think that we had passed a very strong law, and I thought that the attorney general did a great job in making the arguments in defending it,” Allen said. “People walking around with concealed carry weapons is just going to make it harder for our police officers to do their job.”
Gun rights advocates have long argued that the law is unconstitutional and that it makes it difficult for people to defend themselves.