Texas Law Shield firearms program attorneys have noted a lot of news coverage of concealed-carry court cases this month.
First, it was the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals finding that the Second Amendment secures the individual’s right to carry handguns outside the home for self-defense.
Now, attorneys general representing 19 states have signed onto an amicus curiae brief in the Second Amendment Foundation’s case of Drake v. Jerejian. The various AGs are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that handguns may be lawfully carried outside the home for self-defense.
Such a finding, the AGs argue, would be consistent with the Court’s Heller and McDonald rulings.
In their brief, written by Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael, the attorneys general note, “significant splits of authority have developed in both the federal and state courts as they have tried to answer questions involving the right to keep and bear arms outside of the home.”
The Drake v. Jerejian case also asks the high court to clarify the standard of review governing Second Amendment claims involving restrictions on the right to carry handguns outside the home. This case challenges New Jersey’s arbitrary requirement that carry permit applicants demonstrate a “justifiable need” to carry a handgun outside the home.
Wyoming Attorney General Michael is joined by colleagues in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia.
“It is significant that so many attorneys general decided to sign on to this important brief,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Their legal experience and understanding of this important constitutional and civil rights issue should carry great weight with the high court.”
SAF is represented by Virginia attorney Alan Gura, who has won both of the significant Supreme Court rulings on the Second Amendment, Heller in 2008 and McDonald in 2010. These victories have paved the way for numerous successful challenges of state and local limitations firearm civil rights.
Should gubernatorial candidate and current Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott sign on to the amicus brief? Let us hear your thoughts below.
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