A divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said the law requiring people to show "good reason to fear injury" or another "proper reason" to carry a weapon infringes on Second Amendment rights.
"At the Second Amendment's core lies the right of responsible citizens to carry firearms for personal self-defense beyond the home, subject to longstanding restrictions," Judge Thomas Griffith wrote for the majority. "These traditional limits include, for instance, licensing requirements but not bans on carrying in urban areas like DC or bans on carrying absent a special need for self-defense," he wrote.
Judge Karen Henderson dissented, arguing that the court should defer to policymakers, who determined the law was necessary to ensure public safety. Henderson noted that D.C. has "unique challenges" as the home of the federal government, full of high-level officials, diplomats and protected buildings.
