Gun enthusiast Jon Bautista showed up at The Gun Range San Diego in Kearny Mesa Friday night dealing with the latest blow to his hopes of carrying a concealed weapon.
Bautista, along with many others, is on a license to carry waiting list at the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
The department currently grants permits under the “good cause” standard according to California law, which means gun owners wanting a permit for personal protection are on the outside looking in.
“Either you have to be a business owner that carries a lot of cash on-hand late at night, or have extraordinary circumstances such as domestic excuse or a person stalking you, those types of cases,” said Bautista.
In 2014, a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a more generalized issuance of criteria for concealed weapons permits, giving gun owners like Bautista hope.
“I want to protect myself, my family and my friends” said Bautista.
On Thursday, a judge decided the case will be reheard by the entire panel, giving a momentary small victory to gun control activists.
“Their eight hours of training wont teach them someone might be threatening, but not life threatening, so people might have an itchy trigger finger or they just might be very scared and if they have a gun, there is a high likelihood they may use that gun and people will be dying unnecessarily,” argued Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and firearms instructor now advocating for certain gun control measures.
Many people think this case could rise to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept. released this statement on its website in response to the latest court decision.
