CHARLESTON — Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Monday that West Virginia has joined 18 other states in a court brief supporting of a New Jersey man’s challenge to the state’s concealed weapons permitting law.
The brief was filed on behalf of the other states by Wyoming Attorney General Peter K. Michael.
The case, Drake v. Jerejian, challenges New Jersey’s requirement that concealed
carry permit applicants must demonstrate a “justifiable need” to carry a handgun
outside of the home.
“This court’s decision could have a significant impact on the rights of law-abiding West Virginians who legally carry handguns if this decision stands,” Morrisey said in a release. “The protections currently provided to these permit holders could be preempted by any future federal action that would want to tighten the requirements of concealed carry permits. That’s why I thought it was important to join these 18 other states in asking the Supreme Court to consider hearing an appeal of this decision and to clarify that the Second Amendment protects the right to carry a gun outside of the home.”
The other states who have also joined in the brief are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and South Dakota.
Morrisey joins other AGs on 2nd Amendment brief
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