Flanagan v. Becerra

Defending California’s “good cause” requirement for obtaining a concealed-carry permit and its limitations on open carry.

Court: Central District of California; Ninth Circuit

Issue at Stake: Public carry

Summary: Everytown filed this amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, urging the federal appeals court to uphold the district court’s decision rejecting a challenge to California’s system for regulating the carrying of firearms in public. Everytown’s brief refutes the primary historical arguments made by gun lobby lawyers, and explains that California’s requirement that an applicant have a “good cause” to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon, as well as its limitations on open carry, are consistent with centuries of Anglo-American tradition—and thus fully constitutional under the Second Amendment.

Everytown previously filed an amicus brief in this case in 2017, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The brief explains that California’s requirement that an applicant have a “good cause” to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon, as well as its limitations on open carry, are consistent with centuries of American tradition, and fully constitutional under the Second Amendment. The district court upheld the law, finding that the California was reasonable in believing that the challenged restrictions on public carry would be effective in “promoting and achieving the governmental objective of public safety.”

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