Federal Judge Rejects Challenge to Rhode Island’s Gun Permit System

A federal judge has rejected a bid to have Rhode Island’s gun permitting scheme declared unconstitutional.
Rhode Island’s system “is within the Nation’s historical tradition of regulation,” U.S. District Judge William Smith said in an Aug. 1 decision.
Rhode Island law lets the state’s attorney general, as well as municipal officials, hand out permits to people to carry firearms in a concealed fashion. The attorney general may issue a permit if an applicant provides “a proper showing of need,” according to the law.
Local officials shall issue a permit “if it appears that the applicant has good reason to fear an injury to his or her person or property or has any other proper reason for carrying a pistol or revolver, and that he or she is a suitable person to be so licensed,” it states….