9th Circuit: Second Amendment protects right to openly carry firearm in public

Source: Washington Examiner | July 24, 2018 | Melissa Quinn

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a gun openly in public for self-defense.

A divided three-judge panel ruled in favor of gun owner George Young, who argued his constitutional rights had been violated when his application for a license to carry a handgun publicly was denied.

“Once identified as an individual right focused on self-defense, the right to bear arms must guarantee some right to self-defense in public,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote for the majority. “While the concealed carry of firearms categorically falls outside such protection, we are satisfied that the Second Amendment encompasses a right to carry a firearm openly in public for self-defense.”

With its ruling, the San Francisco-based court, considered to be the country’s most liberal circuit court, reversed an earlier ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, which sided with the state and county.

Writing for the majority, O’Scannlain said that while “we do not take lightly the problem of gun violence … for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.”

“While the amendment’s guarantee of a right to ‘keep’ arms effectuates the core purpose of self-defense within the home, the separate right to ‘bear’ arms protects that core purpose outside the home,” he wrote.

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