Whitney Blake’s article in The Weekly Standard on Senior District Court Judge Fredrick Scullin Jr.’s decision on Saturday to let people carry concealed handguns in DC extensively quotes CPRC president John Lott.
The immediate implications are significant, according to John Lott, a preeminent gun law expert and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center. “We have a big experiment now, where people who come into work in D.C. are going to be able to carry….In fact, even more people can carry now in D.C. than can carry in Virginia or Maryland. In Maryland, it’s very difficult to get a permit, but I can go and lock my gun in my trunk in Maryland, drive into work in D.C., and as soon as I cross the border, take the gun out and put it in my pocket.” . . .
Peruta is seen as the most likely case to reach the Supreme Court the soonest. From a strategic standpoint, both Peruta and Palmer are good cases to bring to the Supreme Court, as they deal with complete or nearly complete carry bans, according to Lott. Peruta and Palmer both have the potential for a Supreme Court decision regarding the right to bear arms outside the home, which the Supreme Court has yet to address directly. Palmer could pave the way for national reciprocity, if higher courts decide to comment on Scullin’s residency mandates in the future.
In the present, however short-lived D.C.’s constitutional carry status is, Lott forecasts one small victory that won’t be overturned:
Whether it’s even a few days or a week or whatever before a stay is granted, people will be able to look to see, ‘Well, was there an increase in crime? Did these permit holders start shooting up people as we hear so frequently being claimed is going to happen?’ . . .
Another interview in Outdoor Hub is available here.
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