Gun `Right to Sell' Appeal Turned Away by U.S. Supreme Court
Gun `Right to Sell' Appeal Turned Away by U.S. Supreme Court
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to endorse a constitutional right to sell firearms, rejecting an appeal by three men who were denied a permit to open a gun store in northern California.
The justices, without comment Monday, left intact a federal appeals court decision that said the Second Amendment doesn’t protect the rights of would-be firearm sellers. The lower court also said potential customers could buy guns elsewhere.
It’s the third time this year the court has rejected an appeal from California gun-rights advocates. The court hasn’t heard arguments in a Second Amendment case in eight years.
The men, led by John Teixeira, sought to open their store about five miles south of Oakland in Alameda County.
In denying the permit, county officials said the proposed store didn’t comply with a local ordinance because it was less than 500 feet from residential properties.
The San Francisco-based appeals court said residents could shop at 10 other gun stores in the county, including one about 600 feet away from the proposed site.
Teixeira and his partners said their store would have offered gun-safety training and repairs not available at the other shops. Three gun-rights groups joined the men in seeking Supreme Court review.
The case is Teixeira v. Alameda County, 17-982.
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Justin Blum
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