WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit just revived a Bruen-era lawsuit against the jurisdiction, allowing a case to proceed challenging the District’s ban on concealed carry on public transportation.
In August of 2024, the district court denied a preliminary injunction and dismissed Angelo, et al. v. District of Columbia, citing lack of standing.
In its July 7 decision on the appeal, the three-judge panel from the D.C. Court of Appeals reversed the district court and remanded (or sent back) for proceedings, opening up the case due to “pocketbook injury that is caused by their compliance with an allegedly unconstitutional criminal statute…”
The opening of the case allows the litigants to again challenge D.C. Code Section 7-2509.07(a)(6), which bans even those with a concealed carry license from carrying on public transportation, including MetroAccess, Metrobus, and Metrorail trains.
The statute effectively disarms the law-abiding and already-vetted citizens, forcing them to take high-cost alternatives in order to remain armed for their own safety.
The original complaint, filed on June 30 of 2022, was brought against both the District of Columbia and the Metropolitan chief of police, in both his personal and official capacities (Chief Contee retired in May of 2023). The new complaint adds two new defendants, including the D.C. attorney general (Michael Anzallo).
Putting it in layman’s terms, the court summarized as follows:
The Metro Ban, in other words, has achieved its aim: forcing off of public transit individuals with the pistols they have licenses to carry. At oral argument, counsel for defendants conceded that “keep[ing] people with their guns off Metro system transportation” is “exactly the purpose” of the Metro Ban.
Washington, D.C., has been the target of numerous lawsuits over its gun control schemes and bans, including an affirmative 2025 lawsuit from the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice over its ban on AR-15 rifles, and a 2024 lawsuit from gun rights groups challenging its magazine bans.
