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After a panel of three judges on a federal appeals court ruled the District’s strict concealed-carry gun law unconstitutional, D.C.’s attorney general petitioned the full court to reconsider.

“Nah,” replied the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday in a unanimous order that said none of the judges sought to vote on rehearing the case.

The law in question states that people can only get a permit to carry a concealed handgun if they have a “good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property.” It was blocked in a 2-1 decision by the circuit court in July, which determined it violated the Second Amendment.

“At a minimum the Amendment’s core must protect carrying given the risks and needs typical of law-abiding citizens,” writes Judge Thomas B. Griffith in his decision. “That is a right that most D.C. residents can never exercise, by the law’s very design.”

The city had a month to decide if it wanted to appeal to the full court, a process known as “en banc.” A week after that time lapsed, “good reason” would no longer be the law of the land.

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine decided to appeal to the full court in late August “due to the importance of this question, which affects the safety of every person who lives in, works in, or visits the District.” He argued that D.C., as the nation’s capital, has “particular public-safety challenges” that the council addressed in crafting the legislation.

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon blocked the law in June of 2016. Before the circuit court stayed that decision 10 days later, D.C. police received 85 concealed carry permit applications, compared to 61 in the six previous months.

But even the “good reason” law is itself a response to a 2014 ruling that required the city to determine where licensed owners could carry their handguns in public, after D.C.’s handgun ban was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2008. That famous decision enshrined the right of individuals to possess and carry firearms as part of the Second Amendment.

If Racine wants to appeal the decision, he would have to do so before the Supreme Court. His office is still determining whether it’ll do that, alongside the mayor and Metropolitan Police Department. Like the overturning of the handgun ban, a Supreme Court decision could set a new precedent that could affect states like New Jersey, New York, and Maryland, which all have similar legislation on the books.

For now, the AG’s office is telling MPD to enforce the “good reason” law, but it will be blocked starting approximately next Thursday, when the circuit court issues its mandate.

Previously:
D.C. Wants Court To Take Another Look At Its ‘Good Reason’ Handgun Law
Appeals Court Blocks D.C.’s ‘Good Reason’ Handgun Law
Court: D.C. Can Enforce Its ‘Good Reason’ Concealed-Carry Law
Judge Rules Against D.C.’s Gun Law … Again
Council Approves Permanent Version Of Concealed Carry Bill

Motion Denied by Rachel Kurzius on Scribd