By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
Thursday, June 9, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange (R) denounced a ruling by the federal appeals court ruling today effectively denying residents of San Diego County, California, the right of possession of a handgun for self-defense outside the home.
Strange said, “The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held today that residents have no Second Amendment right to carry a firearm outside their home for self-defense. In effect the appeals court ruled that San Diego County can outlaw guns outside the home by declining to issue anyone a permit. This court’s decision is a direct challenge to the Second Amendment and is unconstitutional.”
Alabama was among 21 states who had fled an amicus brief supporting gun rights in the case of Peruta verses San Diego County. The US Ninth Circuit Count ruled 7 to 4, “We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.”
In her dissent, Judge Consuelo Callahan said, “a prohibition on carrying concealed handguns in conjunction with a prohibition of open carry of handguns would destroy the right to bear and carry arms.”
The state of Alabama wrote in the amicus brief, “The sheriff’s department admits that, under this system, the typical person cannot qualify for a concealed carry permit for personal protection. In fact, an applicant must specifically demonstrate ‘a set of circumstances that distinguish the applicant from the mainstream and causes him or her to be placed in harm’s way. Simply fearing for one’s personal safety alone is not considered good cause.’”
US Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) said in a statement, “9th Circuit ruling concerning concealed carry is liberal judicial activism at its most blatant. I’m confident this ruling will not stand.”
Alabama was joined in the amicus brief by the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
This case very likely could be moving on to the US Supreme Court. If this were to become federal law, it still would not apply to Alabama where the right to carry is part of State law.
