(CN) - The Yolo County Sheriff can use discretion when giving out concealed weapon permits, a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., ruled, rejecting a challenge to the policy by California gun advocates.
U.S. District Judge Morrison England Jr. backed Sheriff Ed Prieto's policy that requires concealed-weapon applicants to have a valid reason for requesting such a permit, such as credible threats of violence against them or carrying large sums of cash as a business owner.
The Second Amendment Foundation and the Calguns Foundation argued that sheriffs must give permits to applicants as long as they pass a training course, are not mentally ill or and do not have a criminal background. Two men whose applications for concealed weapons were turned down joined the groups as plaintiffs in the case.
Judge England backed Prieto's policy to not give permits to applicants who lack credible threats of violence against them, or who cite hunting and fishing as reasons to use concealed weapons.
"As the Supreme Court of the United States recently clarified in a landmark case, the 'right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,'" England wrote. The judge backed the argument of Yolo County that "the Second Amendment has never been interpreted as granting citizens the right to carry a concealed weapon."
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