Will DC be held in contempt for gun carry law? :: 11/22/2014

All Americans can now apply to carry a gun in the nation's capital, but few will be granted a permit. That's why those who sued the city over the total ban on carry rights were back in a federal district court on Thursday to ask Judge Frederick Scullin to intervene.

The plaintiffs in Palmer v. D.C. want Judge Scullin to hold the city in contempt of his order to enact a licensing mechanism “enabling people to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms.”

Alan Gura, the lawyer for the Palmer plaintiffs said in court that the new carry law is a “fig leaf” and a “symbolic gesture.”

"You can apply but the law on its face does not allow people to have a permit unless they have some special need as determined by Cathy Lanier,” Gura told me after the hearing. “The Second Amendment is a right of the people. It's not the right of a few people who the police chief selects."

The attorney said the law was written by people on the city council who “think it's a bad idea to bear arms.” The city passed the law in order to technically abide by Judge Scullin's July 26 ruling, however it is appealing the decision.

Under the new licensing scheme, you have to prove that you have a “good reason to fear injury to person or property” in order to even apply for a permit. You have to show a “special danger to your life” with evidence such as police reports or hospital records.

The application says that the fact that you “live or work in a high crime area” is not enough to prove need for a concealed carry permit.

George Lyon is one of the plaintiffs in the Palmer case.

"You don't know that you're going to be attacked. Attacks happen very quickly, in seconds,” he told me outside the courthouse. “There's not time to run down to the police station and file a permit, pay your money, get fingerprinted, get photographed and wait 90 days for [Police Chief Cathy Lanier] to decide you have a good and substantial reason."

Also, Judge Scullin asked the city's lawyers a status on the permitting process. They said it had started, but only 30 people had applied. Not one has been processed, though the lawyer noted that Chief Lanier has 90 days to decide.

The defense argued that Judge Scullin does not have jurisdiction anymore because the case is on appeal. The judge asked the defense whether he would have jurisdiction if the new law did not comply with his order on the Second Amendment. The city acknowledged that he would. Judge Scullin gave the city two weeks to respond to the contempt motion.

The city attorney general's lawyers would not talk to me after the hearing, but referred me to their spokesman.

“We'll be responding to the motion in court, which is our usual practice,” the spokesman, Ted Gest, replied to an email.

Dick Heller famously brought a lawsuit against D.C. all the way to the Supreme Court over the city's total ban on having a gun in the home was in the court room. After the hearing, Heller said he had only won half the battle with the 2008 court ruling.

"The ultimate mission is to be armed whenever and wherever needed,” said Heller

http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/27444489/will-dc-be-held-in-contempt-for-gun-carry-law