Three residents of Washington D.C. and one Virginian filed a joint lawsuit against the city of Washington D.C., and this lawsuit demands that the city overturn its ban on concealed carry on public transportation.
“Given the decisions in Bruen and Heller, The District of Columbia may not ban the keeping and bearing of arms for self-defense that are not unusually dangerous, deny individuals the right to carry arms in non-sensitive places, deny individuals of the right to keep and carry arms in an arbitrary and capricious manner, or impose regulations on the right to keep and carry arms that are inconsistent with the Second Amendment and the historical tradition of firearms regulation in the United States,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit continues, “the regulation at issue in this case, runs afoul of the Second Amendment because it lacks any historical justification, is arbitrary and capricious, and unnecessarily infringes on the core right of self-protection.”
This lawsuit comes in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, where the court ruled that “proper cause” and “good moral character” requirements for concealed carry permits were unconstitutional.
Washington D.C. currently prohibits the open carrying of handguns, and with all the federal property in the city, concealed carry is not viable. In addition, the city has an all-out ban on carrying on public transportation, including the Metro system.
Carrying on the D.C. Metro has always been a contentious subject. While it has been illegal, many in the city will tell you to do “what you feel you need to do.”
This new lawsuit only seeks to remove the ban on concealed carry for public transportation; the lawsuit lays out other restricted areas as being off-limits. D.C. police have announced that they intend to increase patrols due to increased crime. Considering this, the lawsuit could not have come at a better time.
