Just when residents of San Diego thought they finally had won back the right to bear arms in the county, state politicians used dirty tactics in to block it.
Late Thursday, California State Attorney General Kamala Harris filed a petition on behalf of the state to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review and reverse its decision in Peruta v. County of San Diego. That ruling two weeks ago said the county’s restrictive concealed carry permit laws that required “good cause” were unconstitutional.
This comes just one week after San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said he would not seek en banc review and would start issuing permits based on self-defense once the appeals court decision was finalized.
Ms. Harris wrote in the filing that the state should be allowed to intervene in the case because “this case draws into question the constitutionality of the State’s statutory scheme regulating the public carrying of firearms.” She added that the “existing parties will not adequately represent the State’s interests.”
Chuck Michel is the west coast counsel for the National Rifle Association, which funded the lawsuit. He said Ms. Harris’ motion to intervene was far out of line because her office wasn’t part of the lawsuit, despite repeated requests from both plaintiffs and Sheriff Gore to get involved.
“They are trying to improperly influence the court,” Mr. Michel said in an interview. “The are stretching the rules to file in order to get their arguments in front of the court in the hopes that a liberal judge will get the message and ask for a vote himself.”
Since Sheriff Gore did not ask for review, the only way for a hearing by a larger panel of justices in the 9th Circuit is if one asks to go en banc.
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