Peruta Update: No Second Amendment Right to Carry Concealed Weapons

For those of you who have been following Peruta v. City of San Diego, the multi-year battle over restrictions on the concealed-carry permits, yesterday the Ninth Circuit issued its long awaited en banc Opinion.  

The Opinion supersedes an earlier decision by authored by Judge O’Scannlain, and holds the Second Amendment does not confer a right to carry a concealed weapon in public.  The Opinion leaves open the question of whether the Second Amendment includes a right to openly carry weapons outside of one’s home.

A cert petition appears likely, particularly given the high-wattage advocates involved and dissents by Judges Callahan (who was on the original reviewing panel), Smith, and Silverman.  The dissenters argue limitations on the right to carry a concealed weapon constitute an unconstitutional ban on the right to carry weapons in public.