The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dealt another blow to California's may-issue concealed carry law. The three-judge panel ruled that California's attorney general as well as gun control groups may not appeal their original ruling, saying the state cannot reject applicants for arbitrary reasons.
Since San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore had already announced he would not appeal the original ruling, which was leveled against his department, there is no one left to continue the legal battle. This may effectively settle the case if the state's attorney general decides not to ask another 11-judge panel to intervene.
"The attorney general can now decide whether the … case ends here," Chuck Michel, who represented gun owners in the case, told the Los Angeles Times.
Gun rights advocates said they hope the case will lead to practical changes in how concealed carry permits are issued across the state.
"Some sheriffs are probably going to see this news as evidence their policies are wrong," Brandon Combs, executive director of the pro-Second Amendment Calguns Foundation, told Fox News.
"But sheriffs and police chiefs in anti-gun jurisdictions may need more help seeing the light. We'll be happy to help them, even if it means going to the Supreme Court."