The District of Columbia’s “good reason” requirement for the issuance of a concealed-carry permit is under review by the district’s federal appeals court. Much of the debate on Friday centered over the legitimacy of the injunction decided by District Court Judge Frederick J. Scullen Jr., who determined that the requirement is at variance with the Second Amendment.
The crucial nature of this case has inspired some unusual and detailed historical analysis from both sides in the debate. Attorneys for the city and Everytown for Gun Safety pointed to an English statute from 1328 (before firearms were available in the country), while a brief whose authors included the legal team from the California Rifle and Pistol Association pointed to a 1686 ruling acquitting a man who carried a gun in public. Both sides want to come away from this case with bulletproof legal precedent and will go back as far as necessary to build it.
