A federal appeals court has allowed a lower court's ruling stand that Washington, D.C.'s "good reason" requirement for concealed handguns is unconstitutional, possibly setting the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in.
Second Amendment advocates are celebrating last week's decision, but Emily Taylor, an attorney with Texas Law Shield, says they've kind of jumped the gun.
“The district court hasn't even finished the case yet,” she says. “And once they decide the case it will go up on appeal back to the appellate court that issued this opinion, and then potentially up to the Supreme Court.”
But all that could change if President Trump's signs national reciprocity into law.
“It's going to put a lot of pressure on those states and the District of Columbia that are 'shall issue' states and make it difficult to get a handgun license,” says Taylor.
“Now they would be sitting back saying 'wait a second, this Texan brought their handgun into D.C., gets to carry everywhere because they're just visiting and have a handgun license in their home state, yet I live in D.C. and I can't carry here.'”
Either way, Taylor believes the Supreme Court is still years away from hearing a case on concealed carry.