Requests from more than 16,000 Californians to carry a concealed gun in public are in limbo, pending a final decision in an appeal that was reheard yesterday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, says the Center for Investigative Reporting. The San Francisco Police Department saw a spike in applications after a judicial panel struck down the state's “good cause” requirement as unconstitutional last year. Should that decision be overturned, odds are that none of the applications will be approved.
The center says that 70,593 Californians have an active concealed-carry permit. That's about 0.2 percent of the state population, well below the national average. Some 316 judges are permitted to carry a concealed gun in California. In yesterday’s arguments, there is no evidence that crime goes up in places where concealed weapons permits are issued more freely, said Paul Clement, who represents San Diego County residents who were denied a permit by the sheriff, the Associated Press reports. California Solicitor General Edward DuMont said there was a long and rich tradition of restricting concealed weapons in cities and towns. “The 2nd Amendment does not confer a right to concealed carry of handguns,” he said.