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Delegating Discrimination: Why Discretionary Licensing Statutes Controlling Concealed Carry Weapons Permits Contravene The Rule Of Law, Robert J. Endorf

Robert J. Endorf Jr.

The most significant change in this nation's firearm regulation in almost fifty years is the majority of states adopting liberalized rules for the carrying of concealed firearms. The political debate surrounding theses new "shall issue" licensing laws has almost unanimously confused two distinct issues. The debate has centered on whether states should issue many licenses, or virtually no licenses; however, because many licensing statutes date back to the turn of the twentieth century and were originally passed for highly suspect motives, such as outright racism or xenophobia, the issue of how best to issue licenses has been buried under the …