A group of gun rights activists filed a federal lawsuit against DC, demanding the right to carry concealed guns on Metro buses and trains.
All four plaintiffs are holders of concealed pistol carry licenses issued by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), who carry them for personal protection in DC, and regular riders of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), according to the lawsuit.
“The Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding citizens to carry a handgun in public for self-protection. A necessary component of the right to carry a firearm is the right to possess and carry ammunition for that firearm. Otherwise, the firearm would be useless as a self-defense tool, other than perhaps as a clubbing weapon,” the lawsuit said, in reference to the recent Supreme Court decision.
According to the plaintiffs, the District cannot ban individuals from carrying arms for self-defense in non-sensitive places or impose regulations on the right to keep and carry arms due to the Supreme Court’s Bruen and Heller rulings.
It was also emphasized in the lawsuit that the District issued 3,339 carry licenses as of August 29, 2019, which DC police revealed in response to a Freedom of Information Act request at the time. Plaintiffs believe thousands more carry licenses have been issued since that date.
The Supreme Court decision that came on June 23 following a series of mass shootings in recent weeks expanded gun rights, saying that everyone has a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.
The 6-3 ruling, the top court’s first major Second Amendment-related decision in over a decade, struck down a New York law that requires gun owners to prove that they have a particular need for self-protection in order to receive a concealed carry permit.
Anti-gun violence activists are concerned that more people will become armed and carry their guns legally in the wake of the Supreme Court’s move.
President Joe Biden also expressed his disappointment by the decision in a statement.
“Since 1911, the State of New York has required individuals who would like to carry a concealed weapon in public to show a need to do so for the purpose of self-defense and to acquire a license. More than a century later, the United States Supreme Court has chosen to strike down New York’s long-established authority to protect its citizens. This ruling contradicts both common sense and the Constitution, and should deeply trouble us all,” Biden said.