CRPA News Alert: California Attorney General’s Office

California Attorney General Seeks to Skip 3-Judge Panel Review in CRPA Lawsuit Challenging California’s Carry Restrictions

On Friday, September 21, the California Attorney General’s Office filed a “Petition for Initial Hearing En Banc” in the case of Flanagan v. Becerra. CRPA is a plaintiff and NRA is assisting in the case, which is currently pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It challenges California’s restrictions on carrying a firearm for self-defense in public, including California’s ban on open carry.

Flanagan sues both Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Los Angeles Sheriff James McDonnel as defendants because, between California law and the Sheriff’s policies, law-abiding residents of Los Angeles County have no meaningful way to exercise their fundamental right to bear arms, whether openly or concealed.

Flanagan was originally filed in response to the 11-judge panel decision in Peruta v. San Diego County. The Peruta case challenged the San Diego County Sheriff’s restrictive “good cause” policy as a violation of the Second Amendment, and in 2014 resulted in a groundbreaking ruling by a 3-judge panel confirming that local policies denying the right of average, law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm for self-defense are unconstitutional.

To challenge the Perutaruling, Former California Attorney General Kamala Harris petitioned the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case by a larger 11-judge “en banc” panel. That panel ultimately issued a new opinion in 2016 reversing the 3-judge panel opinion. But in doing so, the 11-judge panel dodged the central question presented in the case of whether there was a right to carry a firearm in some manner outside the home, and instead narrowly held that concealedcarry is not a right protected by the Second Amendment.

The Plaintiffs in the Peruta lawsuit petitioned the United States Supreme Court to rehear the case, but the Court declined to do so. But strong dissent from Justice Thomas and Justice Gorsuch shows that there is interest on the Supreme Court to resolve the issues.

Since the Supreme Court didn’t take the case, he Perutadecision left open the question of whether opencarry is protected by the Second Amendment. As a result, CRPA, with NRA’s assistance, filed the Flanagancase to force the court to decide once and for all whether its willing to uphold a complete restriction on the right of law-abiding citizens to carry a firearm in California.

Today’s filing to take Flanagan en banc is in direct response to the recent Ninth Circuit opinion in the case of Young v. Hawaii. The Young decision came out on July 24 and held that Hawaii’s open carry restrictions are unconstitutional. Any future 3-judge panel opinion on similar issues is currently bound by that opinion, including any 3-judge panel opinion in the Flanagan lawsuit. As a result, California’s Attorney General is attempting to skip the step of having the case decided by a 3-judge panel because it would most certainly result in a pro-Second Amendment decision at this time.

To stay up-to-date on the Flanagan lawsuit, as well as other important Second Amendment litigation, be sure to subscribe to NRA and CRPA email alerts. And be sure to visit the NRA-ILA California dedicate webpage at www.StandAndFightCalifornia.com and the CRPA website at www.CRPA.org.