Open Carry activists across the country, including the Pacific Northwest, are cheering a federal judge’s ruling Thursday that declared a ban on guns in post office parking lots to be unconstitutional, and they will likely be talking about it today at an Open Carry picnic at the Kitsap County park in Port Orchard. What has their attention is the summation of U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch, who concluded, “In sum, openly carrying a firearm outside the home is a liberty protected by the Second Amendment.”
The case, brought by Colorado resident Tab Bonidy — represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation — caused quite a ripple because it is the third time (the other two being in Maryland and Illinois) in which a federal court has confirmed that the right to bear arms extends outside the home.
Bonidy lives in a rural area outside Avon, and he routinely carries a handgun for personal protection. He also has to retrieve his mail at the Avon Post Office, but was not able to leave his gun in his vehicle when picking up his mail because regulations prohibited him from having a firearm even in the parking lot.
"In sum, openly carrying a firearm outside the home is a liberty protected by the Second Amendment."—Judge Richard P. Matsch
As this column noted Friday, the Second Amendment Foundation has asked for Supreme Court review in the Maryland case, Woollard v. Sheridan, which was reversed on appeal by the state.
Today’s festivities in Port Orchard mark the fifth anniversary of the first Open Carry event held at the park. This is a family affair, and will include an opportunity for people to sign Initiative 591 — the “common sense” measure prohibiting gun confiscation without due process and requiring background checks to comply with a uniform national standard — which is supported by several major gun rights organizations.
According to a report Saturday morning on The Gun Wire, open carry is getting attention in a Mississippi legal flap in which it now appears the National Rifle Association may get involved.
For the record — and the umpteenth time, it seems — contrary to claims this week by the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility in its attempts to raise money for its gun control initiative (I-594), the NRA has taken no position in Washington State’s battle of the initiatives. I-594 is the 15-page gun control measure purporting to be about expanding background checks. WAGR keeps asking for money by bashing the NRA, yet the group reportedly has more than $1 million already banked for their campaign.
