A federal court just ruled that U.S. citizens have no constitutional right to carry concealed weapons.
Gun owners in two California counties had challenged a California law that heavily restricts concealed weapons, citing their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Currently, California state law requires gun owners to show “good cause” before they can obtain permits to legally carry a concealed handgun, and “personal safety” doesn’t qualify.
But in a 7-4 ruling in the San Francisco-based Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge William A. Fletcher, whom the Wall Street Journal pointed out was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, ruled that “the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.”
According to the report:
Lawmakers are free to enact “any prohibition or restriction a state may choose” on the carrying of concealed guns, Judge Fletcher said.
A Second Amendment right to carry a firearm openly in public may exist, but the Supreme Court hasn't answered that question, Judge Fletcher wrote.
Unfortunately for gun rights advocates, California law doesn’t allow most citizens to openly carry weapons, either. Essentially, the state law, coupled with the court’s ruling, bans the vast majority of California citizens from carrying weapons in just about any capacity while in public.