U.S. court weighs challenge to Boston gun restrictions

[July 26, 2018]  By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday weighed whether the U.S. Constitution guarantees a right to carry guns in public for self-defense in a lawsuit challenging the firearm licensing policies of two Massachusetts municipalities including Boston.

The arguments before the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston marked the latest instance in which a federal appeals court has weighed the extent the Constitution's Second Amendment protects the right to carry firearms outside of a person's home.

The extent of the right to gun ownership is one of the most hotly contested debates in the United States, which has seen a steady stream of mass shootings in recent years.

Gun-rights activists hope that appellate court rulings prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its first major gun rights case since 2010.

David Thompson, a lawyer for the gun-rights organization Commonwealth Second Amendment, in court argued Boston and Brookline had imposed an unconstitutional requirement that firearm license applicants to prove they had a specific reason to fear violence.

"I don't believe there's any historical law from the time of the founding that imposed on law-abiding citizens the need to prove to the government that they had some concern about their safety," he argued.

He cited a 2008 ruling in which the Supreme Court held the Second Amendment guaranteed a right to keep a handgun in one's home for self-defense.

But lawyers for Boston and Brookline urged the three-judge panel to affirm a ruling from December that held that the restrictions do not violate the right of citizens to bear arms under the Second Amendment.

A man openly wears his gun during the Michigan Volunteer Militia "open carry" family day picnic at a state park in Brighton, Michigan, U.S., April 10, 2010. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo

They argued Thompson was wrong in contending the policies amounted to a flat ban on carrying handguns in public as a quarter of applicants had obtained unrestricted licenses, a fact U.S. Circuit Judge Bruce Selya noted.

"It provides open opportunities for people to be able to carry," Selya said.

The arguments came after a different federal appeals court on Tuesday in a case involving Hawaii held the Second Amendment guarantees a right to carry a gun in public for self-defense, joining two other circuit courts that have ruled on the issue.

Three others have reached contrary conclusions, creating a split that could prompt the Supreme Court to intervene.

Republican President Donald Trump is seeking to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat and make the court more conservative, raising the prospect it may take up more gun-rights cases.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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