Gun group sues DC over permit laws: It's a Bill of Rights, not a 'Bill of Needs' :: 02/11/2015

The Second Amendment Foundation is not giving up on its fight against DC’s draconian gun laws.

The gun rights group previously was a plaintiff in the suit that overturned the district’s outright ban on handguns. Now it’s suing again, alleging that the city’s gun regulations are still unconstitutional.

D.C. requires that residents have a “good reason” to apply for a concealed carry permit. This involves proving “a special need for self-protection distinguishable from the general community,” supported by something like “specific threats or previous attacks” or “serious threats of death or serious bodily harm.” Simply living or working in a high-crime area is expressly not considered “good reason” for carrying a concealed weapon.

The Second Amendment Foundation counters that this violates the Second Amendment. “Individuals cannot be required to prove a ‘good reason’ or ‘other proper reason’ for the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to keep and bear arms,” the suit reads.

The suit’s three plaintiffs have all been denied permits on the grounds that they have insufficient reason to need one, despite already holding permits in other states.

“The city’s requirements to obtain a carry permit are so restrictive in nature as to be prohibitive to virtually all applicants,” SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said in a statement. “It’s rather like a ‘Catch 22,’ in which you can apply all day long, but no reason is sufficiently good enough for Chief Lanier to issue a permit.”

“The last time we checked,” he added, “we had a Bill of Rights that applied to the entire nation, including the District. It’s not, and never has been, a ‘Bill of Needs’.”

http://redalertpolitics.com/2015/02/10/gun-group-sues-dc-permit-laws-bill-rights-not-bill-needs/