Firearm owners have no constitutional right to carry a concealed gun in public if they face no specific danger, a divided federal appeals court in California ruled on Thursday, in a victory for gun control advocates.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sets a legal precedent in Western states, was seen as unlikely to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court in the near future.
The San Francisco-based court, in a 7-4 decision, found San Diego and Yolo counties in California did not violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms, when they denied some applicants a concealed firearm license.