D.C. Court of Appeals Denies En Banc Hearing on Wrenn, a Key Win for SAF
BELLEVUE, Wash., Sept. 28, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has turned down a request from the city for an en banc hearing on the concealed carry case of Wrenn v. District of Columbia, amounting to a strategic win for the Second Amendment Foundation.
According to the court, not a single judge on the court requested a hearing. Earlier, a three-judge panel had ruled in favor of plaintiffs Brian Wrenn and SAF. The case challenges the District's carry permit policy that requires citizens to provide a "good reason" to be issued a permit. The Appeals Court struck down that requirement.
"Ten years ago, Washington D.C.'s political leadership tried to extinguish Second Amendment rights before the Supreme Court," noted attorney Alan Gura, who represents the plaintiffs. "The result was D.C. v. Heller, a tremendous victory for the rights of all Americans. With the court of appeals again confirming the people's right to bear arms, Washington, D.C.'s politicians must once again ask themselves whether it makes sense to keep resisting our fundamental rights."
Gura successfully argued both the 2008 District of Columbia v. Heller case and 2010 McDonald v. City of Chicago case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Both cases dealt directly with Second Amendment issues. Heller affirmed that the amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, and McDonald incorporated the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment.
SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb was delighted with the court's decision not to grant the en banc hearing.
"We are grateful," Gottlieb observed, "that the court has shown considerable wisdom, and this should help advance the effort to assure reasonable concealed carry for District residents. It represents one more advancement in our effort to win firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time."
The victory comes on the eve of the 32nd annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas, Texas. The event is co-sponsored by SAF and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
SOURCE Second Amendment Foundation
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