The 9th US Circuit court of appeals ruled that even though the Second Amendment guarantees the right for an individual to bear arms, the government can decide on gun store locations. Limiting firearm stores doesn’t violate the rights guaranteed through the Second Amendment. The 11-member panel of judges upheld the ruling that firearm stores cannot be allowed within 152 meters of schools, day care centres, residential areas, or colleges.
Limiting firearm stores doesn’t violate Second Amendment
According to US News, Judge Marsha S. Berzon commented that, “Gun buyers have no right to have a gun store in a particular location, at least as long as their access is not meaningfully constrained.
Alameda County residents may freely purchase firearms within the county. As of December 2011, there were 12 gun stores in Alameda County.” The majority of the panel held the view that as long as would-be gun owners can purchase guns from other locations, restricting store locations doesn’t meaningfully violate the second amendment. The court additionally observed that there is no commercial right guaranteed by the constitution to sell a gun. John Taxeira, the plaintiff in the case, wanted to open his arms shop in San Leandro, Alameda County, but the judges denied it on account of the location being near residential areas.
This ruling overturns last year’s ruling
Last year, a 3-judge panel ruled that the Second Amendment also extends to gun store locations.
As per the ruling, government couldn’t restrict a gun store’s location if it were near schools or residential areas. The 9:2 majority judgement on Tuesday nullified the previous ruling. The ruling doesn’t deprive gun owners or would-be gun owners of the right to own guns. The plaintiffs can still pursue the case in the Supreme Court but there are no reports regarding their intention to do that.
Rising gun violence in the US
The ruling comes in the wake of rising gun violence across the United States. On October 1, a gunman killed 59 people and injured nearly 500 others in a shooting in Las Vegas. Stephen Paddock, the person identified as the shooter, opened fire at people attending a music concert at the Mandalay Bay resort.
There have been 1400 mass shootings in the last 5 years in America. A report from Business Insider claims that there are around 64,747 gun dealers in the United States. In fact, there are more gun dealers than there are pharmacies.
