Two weeks ago, the infamously liberal 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down California's ban on concealed carry in Peruta v San Diego, opening the door for people to finally take advantage of their Second Amendment Rights in the Golden State. A reminder of the ruling:
The Second Amendment secures the right not only to “keep” arms but also to “bear” them—the verb whose original meaning is key in this case. Saving us the trouble of pulling the eighteenth-century dictionaries ourselves, the Court already has supplied the word’s plain meaning: “At the time of the founding, as now, to ‘bear’ meant to ‘carry.’” Heller, 554 U.S. at 584.3 Yet, not “carry” in the ordinary sense of “convey[ing] or transport[ing]” an object, as one might carry groceries to the check-out counter or garments to the laundromat, but “carry for a particular purpose—confrontation.”
Now, Californians are applying for concealed carry permits in droves. Fox News has the details:
More than 500 applications have poured in to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in just two weeks — roughly the total number of applications filed in 2013, a spokesman said. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens announced on the department's website that the county will comply with the federal court's order immediately, sparking the wave of applications.
“We’ve received as many or more in the last week in a half than we did in the whole calendar year [of 2013],” OCSD Lt. Jeff Hallock told FoxNews.com by phone early Thursday.
He said Hutchens didn't wait for the decision to be further tested in order to "show respect to the court’s opinion while demonstrating her responsiveness.”
Just last week The Reader ran a feature about people in Chicago signing up for concealed carry classes and applying for permits after a ban in Illinois was struck down in late 2012.
Yesterday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris (a fan of Barack Obama) appealed the 9th Circuit ruling, arguing local law enforcement should decide who can and cannot carry a concealed weapon based on good cause or working in a dangerous job. The case is headed to the Supreme Court.
