Thumbs up: US Supreme Court lets California law restricting concealed weapon law stand

Of all the things the U.S. Supreme Court did on Monday, one of the most encouraging was what it didn’t do. It chose not to hear a challenge to California’s requirements for carrying concealed weapons in public.

The court decided 7-2 to reject an appeal by gun rights advocates who argued against a state law allowing gun owners to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon if they can show “good cause.” Opponents said this was an infringement on Second Amendment rights.

Not so, said the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last year in concluding that “the protection of the 2nd Amendment - whatever the scope of that protection may be - simply does not extend to the carrying of concealed firearms in public by members of the general public.”

Yes, as the courts have made clear before with other rights such as free speech and freedom of religion, the right to own and bear arms, as described in the 2nd Amendment, is not absolute. Thumbs up to that.