Peruta v. Cnty. of San Diego

824 F.3d 919

Edward Peruta; Michelle Laxson; James Dodd ; Leslie Buncher, Dr.; Mark Cleary; California Rifle and Pistol Association Foundation, Plaintiffs–Appellants

v.County of San Diego; William D. Gore, individually and in his capacity as Sheriff, Defendants–Appellees

State of California, Intervenor.

Adam Richards ; Second Amendment Foundation ; Calguns Foundation, Inc. ; Brett Stewart, Plaintiffs–Appellants

v.Ed Prieto; County of Yolo, Defendants–Appellees.

No. 10-56971

No. 11-16255

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted En Banc June 16, 2015 San Francisco, California

Filed June 9, 2016

In No. 10–56971: Paul D. Clement (argued), Bancroft PLLC, Washington, D.C.; Paul Henry Neuharth, Jr., Paul Neuharth, Jr., APC, San Diego, California; Carl D. Michel, Glenn S. McRoberts, Sean A. Brady, and Bobbie K. Ross, Michel & Associates, P.C., Long Beach, California, for Plaintiffs–Appellants.

Edward C. DuMont (argued), Solicitor General; Gregory David Brown, Deputy Solicitor General; Douglas J. Woods, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Anthony R. Hakl, Deputy Attorney General; Mark Beckington, Supervising Deputy Attorney General; Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General of California; Office of the California Attorney General, San Francisco, California; for Intervenor.

James Chapin, County Counsel, Office of County Counsel, San Diego, California, for Defendants–Appellees.

In No. 11–16255: Alan Gura (argued), Gura & Possessky, PLLC, Alexandria, Virginia; Donald Kilmer, Jr., Law Offices of Donald Kilmer, San Jose, California; for Plaintiffs–Appellants.

John A. Whitesides (argued), Peter D. Halloran, and Serena M. Warner, Angelo, Kilday & Kilduff, Sacramento, California, for Defendants–Appellees Ed Prieto and County of Yolo.

Stefan B. Tahmassebi, Fairfax, Virginia; Stephen Porter Halbrook, Fairfax, Virginia; for Amicus Curiae Congress of Racial Equality, Inc.

John D. Ohlendorf, Peter A. Patterson, David H. Thompson, and Charles J. Cooper, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae National Rifle Association of America, Inc.

Dan M. Peterson, Dan M. Peterson PLLC, Fairfax, Virginia; David B. Kopel, Independence Institute, Denver, Colorado, for Amici Curiae International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, Law Enforcement Action Network, and Law Enforcement Alliance of America.

Simon Frankel, Samantha J. Choe, Steven D. Sassman, and Ryan M. Buschell, Covington & Burling, LLP, San Francisco, California, for Amici Curiae Legal Community Against Violence, Major Cities Chiefs Association, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, George Gascón, San Francisco District Attorney, and Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Alan Gura, Gura & Possessky, PLLC, Alexandria, Virginia, for Amici Curiae Second Amendment Foundation, Inc., Calguns Foundation, Inc., Adam Richards, and Brett Stewart.

John C. Eastman, Anthony T. Caso, and Karen J. Lugo, Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Orange, California, for Amici Curiae Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, and Law Enforcement Alliance of America.

Don Kates, Michel & Associates, P.C., Battle Ground, Washington, for Amici Curiae The Gun Owners of California and H.L. Richardson.

Neil R. O'Hanlon, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Los Angeles, California; Jonathan L. Diesenhaus, Adam K. Levin, James W. Clayton, and Kathryn Linde Marshall, Hogan Lovells US LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, and The Police Foundation.

John A. Whitesides and Serena M. Warner, Angelo, Kilday & Kilduff, Sacramento, California, for Amici Curiae Edward G. Prieto and County of Yolo.

Girard D. Lau, Solicitor General of Hawaii; Kimberly Tsumoto Guidry, First Deputy Solicitor General; Robert T. Takatsuji, Deputy Solicitor General; Department of the Attorney General, Honolulu, Hawaii; for Amicus Curiae State of Hawaii.

Paul R. Coble, Krista MacNevin Jee, James R. Touchstone, and Martin Joel Mayer, Jones & Mayer, Fullerton, California, for Amici Curiae California Police Chiefs' Association, California Peace Officers' Association, and California Sheriffs' Association.

Stephen M. Duvernay and Bradley A. Benbrook, Benbrook Law Group, PC, Sacramento, California, for Amici Curiae Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Firearms Policy Foundation, Inc., California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, Inc., Pink Pistols, Gun Rights Across America, Liberal

Gun Owners Association, Madison Society, Inc., Hawaii Defense Foundation, Florida Carry, Inc., Illinois Carry, Knife Rights Foundation, Inc., and Second Amendment Plaintiffs.

Charles Nichols, Redondo Beach, California, for Amicus Curiae California Right to Carry.

Brian S. Koukoutchos, Mandeville, Louisiana, for Amici Curiae Pink Pistols, Women Against Gun Control, Inc., and Second Amendment Sisters.

Thomas Peter Pierce and Stephen D. Lee, Richards, Watson & Gershon, Los Angeles, California, for Amicus Curiae League of California Cities.

Andrew S. Oldham, Deputy General Counsel; James D. Blacklock, General Counsel; Office of the Governor, Austin, Texas; for Amici Curiae Governors of Texas, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.

Brett J. Talley, Deputy Solicitor General; Andrew L. Brasher, Solicitor General; Luther Strange, Attorney General; Office of the Attorney General of Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama; for Amici Curiae Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Robert J. Olson, Jeremiah L. Morgan, John S. Miles, William J. Olson, and Herbert W. Titus, William J. Olson, P.C., Vienna, Virginia; for Amici Curiae Gun Owners of America, Inc.; Gun Owners Foundation; U.S. Justice Foundation; The Lincoln Institute for Research and Education; The Abraham Lincoln Foundation for Public Policy Research, Inc.; Policy Analysis Center; Institute on the Constitution; and Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Michael Connelly, Ramona, California, for Amicus Curiae U.S. Justice Foundation.

Jonathan E. Taylor and Deepak Gupta, Gupta Beck PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Curiae Everytown for Gun Safety.

David D. Jensen, David Jensen PLLC, New York, New York, for Amici Curiae New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs, Commonwealth Second Amendment, Gun Owners' Action League, and Maryland State Rifle & Pistol Association.

Jonathan S. Goldstein, McNelly & Goldstein, LLC, Hatfield, Pennsylvania, for Amici Curiae Western States Sheriffs' Association, Sheriff Adam Christianson, Sheriff Jon Lopey, Sheriff Margaret Mims, Sheriff Tom Bosenko, David Hencratt, Sheriff Steven Durfor, Sheriff Thomas Allman, Sheriff David Robinson, Sheriff Scott Jones, Sheriff Bruce Haney, Sheriff John D'Agostini, and Retired Sheriff Larry Jones.

Brandon M. Kilian, La Grange, California, for Amicus Curiae The Madison Society, Inc.

Michael John Vogler, Vogler Law Offices, Pasadena, California, pro se Amicus Curiae.

Before: Sidney R. Thomas, Chief Judge and Harry Pregerson, Barry G. Silverman, Susan P. Graber, M. Margaret McKeown, William A. Fletcher, Richard A. Paez, Consuelo M. Callahan, Carlos T. Bea, N. Randy Smith and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges.

Concurrence by Judge Graber ;

Dissent by Judge Callahan ;

Dissent by Judge Silverman ;

Dissent by Judge N.R. Smith

OPINION

W. FLETCHER, Circuit Judge:

Under California law, a member of the general public may not carry a concealed weapon in public unless he or she has been issued a license. An applicant for a license must satisfy a number of conditions. Among other things, the applicant must show “good cause” to carry a concealed firearm. California law authorizes county sheriffs to establish and publish policies defining good cause. The sheriffs of San Diego and Yolo Counties published policies defining good cause as requiring a particularized reason why an applicant needs a concealed firearm for self-defense.

Appellants, who live in San Diego and Yolo Counties, allege that they wish to carry concealed firearms in public for self-defense, but that they do not satisfy the good cause requirements in their counties. They contend that their counties' definitions of good cause violate their Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. They particularly rely on the Supreme Court's decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller , 554 U.S. 570, 128 S.Ct. 2783, 171 L.Ed.2d 637 (2008), and McDonald v. City of Chicago , 561 U.S. 742, 130 S.Ct. 3020, 177 L.Ed.2d 894 (2010).

We hold that the Second Amendment does not preserve or protect a right of a member of the general public to carry concealed firearms in public.

I. Procedural History

Plaintiff Edward Peruta lives in San Diego County. He applied for a license to carry a concealed firearm in February 2009, but his application was denied because he had not shown good cause under the policy published in his county. Plaintiff Adam Richards lives in Yolo County. He sought a license to carry a concealed firearm in May 2009, but was told he could not establish good cause under his county's policy. Peruta, Richards, and the other plaintiffs—five residents of San Diego and Yolo Counties, as well as several gun-rights organizations—brought two separate suits challenging under the Second Amendment the two counties' interpretation and application of the statutory good cause requirement under California law.

The district courts granted summary judgment in each case, holding that the counties' policies do not violate the Second Amendment. Peruta v. Cty. of San Diego , 758 F.Supp.2d 1106 (S.D. Cal. 2010) ; Richards v. Cty. of Yolo , 821 F.Supp.2d 1169 (E.D. Cal. 2011). A divided three-judge panel of this court reversed both decisions. The panel majority held in a published opinion in Peruta that San Diego's policy violated the Second Amendment. See ...