(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Today, Attorney General Karl A. Racine said he was pleased that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a full stay of a lower court’s order declaring unconstitutional a key part of the District’s law allowing individuals to obtain permits for carrying concealed handguns. The Court granted the stay pending the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) appeal of a May 17 decision by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon.

The Court’s order also expedited briefing in the appeal and ordered that oral argument be calendared on the same date and before the same three-judge panel of the Court as another appeal regarding the same provision of the District’s gun laws, Wrenn v. D.C. In that case, another judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in favor of the District.

“This stay is good news for public safety in our city, because it means we may continue enforcing our gun laws in full,” said Attorney General Racine. “The District’s gun laws are constitutional, reasonable, and in line with laws in other states that three other federal appellate courts have upheld. We continue to believe that our requirements for issuing concealed-carry permits will ultimately be found constitutional.”

A copy of the D.C. Circuit’s order issuing the stay is attached.