WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington halted enforcement of a portion of the city’s strict gun law Tuesday in a ruling that conflicts with another judge’s assessment of the law earlier this year and sets up two competing views for a higher court.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled Tuesday that a section of the city’s law that requires people who want to carry a gun in public to show a “good reason to fear injury” or another “proper reason” to carry the weapon “likely places an unconstitutional burden” on citizens’ right to bear arms.
Leon’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction stands in contrast to a ruling by his colleague, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who sided with the city in a separate dispute this year and declined to issue a preliminary injunction.
Kollar-Kotelly said opponents had not shown that their lawsuit was likely to be successful, leading her to deny the request for a preliminary injunction. She also noted that appeals courts in other parts of the country had approved of laws in New York, New Jersey and Maryland that are similar to the District of Columbia’s.
Kollar-Kotelly was nominated by a Democrat, President Bill Clinton, and Leon by a Republican, President George W. Bush.
The city can appeal Tuesday’s ruling and might also ask Leon to put on hold his ruling while they appeal. Robert P. Marus, a spokesman for the District of Columbia attorney general’s office, which has been defending the city’s law, said the office is reviewing the ruling.
Tuesday’s case involves a District of Columbia resident, Matthew Grace, and a shooting group he belongs to, the Pink Pistols. They are challenging the city’s requirement that a person who wants to carry a concealed handgun outside the home show he or she has a “good reason to fear injury to his or her person or property” or another “proper reason” for carrying the weapon.
