A Win For Carry In The 9th Circuit

I know you are probably saying, “what the hell? The 9th Circuit?” It is true. Today the 9th Circuit issued its opinion in Young v. State of Hawaii. The 2-1 decision found that the Second Amendment does protect the right to openly carry a firearm in public for self-defense. You will remember in Peruta v. San Diego that the 9th Circuit ruling en banc said there was no constitutional right to carry concealed in public and that the Supreme Court refused to grant certiorari on appeal.

From Reuters:

The ruling issued by a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, came a year after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to rule either way on the carrying of guns in public.

Two of the three 9th Circuit judges voted to reverse a decision by the U.S. District Court in Hawaii that state officials did not infringe on the rights of George Young, the plaintiff, in twice denying him a permit to carry a gun outside.

“We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence,” Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain wrote in Tuesday’s ruling. “But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.”

 I would be extremely surprised if this decision does not go to an en banc hearing in the 9th Circuit.

I have not had time to read the whole decision but you can read it here.


3 thoughts on “A Win For Carry In The 9th Circuit”

  1. According to the article on Freebeacon, the plaintiff initially represented himself. No thanks to SAF or the NRA this time around …

    "George Young, a native Hawaiian and Vietnam veteran, was denied a gun-carry permit in 2011 and decided to file a lawsuit against the state. Young had to act as his own lawyer because he couldn't find a lawyer in the state who was willing to work on his behalf. After his first two attempts at legal action failed, Alan Beck, a California-based lawyer with ties to Hawaii, offered to help him with his suit on a pro bono basis."

    https://freebeacon.com/issues/federal-court-says-hawaii-must-allow-open-carry-guns/

    1. When you think about it, we were very lucky on this one. It was also lucky that Alan Beck helped Mr. Young so it didn't end up like the case of Leonard Embody in the 6th Circuit who also served as his own lawyer.

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