DC must let ex-prison guards pack heat, federal court rules

Four former prison guards who were barred from carrying concealed guns despite a 2004 federal law that gave off-duty and retired law enforcement officers the right to pack heat won a landmark court victory on Thursday.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington D.C. Circuit held that the city’s Department of Corrections improperly barred the men from carrying concealed firearms, saying the 2004 Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act guaranteed their right. The court rejected the city’s argument that the law does not apply to corrections officers because they lack arresting authority.

“[Congress] left no discretion for a state to revise the historical record of an individual qualified law enforcement officer,” read the majority opinion.

The law was intended to improve response to threats in public as well as to allow current and former law enforcement officers with at least 10 years’ experience the ability to protect themselves from criminals they may have had past dealings with. Although plaintiffs Robert Smith, Ronald DuBerry, Harold Bennette and Maurice Curtis all said they regularly received threats from inmates they once guarded, their applications for concealed-carry licenses were denied.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/0...ck-heat-federal-court-rules.html?intcmp=hpbt4