Concealed Carry Could Be Headed for the Supreme Court

On July 25, a divided three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down Washington’s tough local restriction on who can obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public. The ruling conflicted with those of four other intermediate courts of appeal that in recent years have upheld regulations limiting what’s known as “concealed carry.” Resolving such conflicts among the lower courts is one of the Supreme Court’s main responsibilities, and the D.C. case would provide a suitable vehicle for addressing the degree to which the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to carry a gun outside the home.

All 50 states, along with the District of Columbia, allow for concealed carry, with qualifications that vary from state to state. Conservative congressional Republicans, backed by the influential National Rifle Association, are currently pushing legislation that would impose “national reciprocity”—a system under which residents of states with lax concealed-carry laws would be able to take their firearms into states with more restrictive laws.