State can bar those with multiple DUI convictions from obtaining concealed carry permit, state Supreme Court finds

OLYMPIA - The state of Washington can prohibit those convicted of multiple DUIs from obtaining a concealed carry permit for firearms without first needing to further prove they pose a risk of committing a violent crime, the state Supreme Court ruled last week.

The court narrowly upheld a 2023 state law that bars those convicted of multiple DUIs in a seven-year period from obtaining a concealed carry permit, following a lawsuit brought by two Spokane County men.

In a 5-4 ruling, the court found that the state had shown the "temporary disarmament of recidivist drunk drivers is consistent with this nation's historical tradition of disarming groups of people presenting a special danger of misuse."

Writing for the majority, Justice Steven González wrote that temporarily prohibiting those convicted of multiple drunken-driving offenses was constitutional and did not require an "individualized assessment."

"Our nation's history of limiting the firearms rights of those who have been convicted of serious crimes and those who have a history of dangerous use of intoxicants, such as repeatedly driving while under the influence, is sufficient justification for the regulation here," González wrote.

The lawsuit, initially filed by Geoffrey McLellan and Jackson Holloway in Spokane County Superior Court, alleged that the law violates the Constitution and the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.

The state, however, argued the law is consistent with previous firearm restrictions placed on those who pose a heightened risk to the community or have been convicted of a serious crime.

The law restricts those either convicted of multiple DUIs in a seven-year period, or other offenses such as domestic violence or stalking, from obtaining a concealed carry permit. Under the law, those barred from obtaining a permit can petition a court to restore their right if they have not committed a new offense in five years.

The restriction is applicable to those convicted of multiple DUIs if one of the offenses occurred after the law took effect in July 2023.

Forty-seven states have passed similar laws that could prohibit those convicted of multiple DUIs from possessing firearms, though the length of the suspension and the number of convictions required vary by state. The law was passed without any support from Republicans in either the House or Senate, and six Democratic representatives and one Democratic senator voted no as well.

According to the lawsuit, McLellan was convicted of three DUIs within seven years, while Holloway was convicted of two DUIs.

Citing the U.S. Supreme Court case U.S. v. Rahimi, a Spokane County judge allowed the case to proceed.

During oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in January, Assistant Attorney General Andrew Russell Wenderoff Hughes said the prohibition was "evidence-based" and that "people with a history of repeatedly engaging in dangerous, reckless misconduct with their vehicles are more likely to engage in dangerous, reckless misconduct with their firearms."

"The law's temporary restriction on firearm possession comes squarely within at least three separate historical traditions of firearm regulation," Hughes said. "Disarming dangerous people, disarming people convicted of serious crimes and addressing the toxic mix of alcohol and firearms."

Vitaly Kertchen, a lawyer representing McLellan and Holloway, told the state Supreme Court in January that the state was asking "for a blank check."

"It asks the court to rule as a matter of constitutional law that the Legislature has unfettered authority to prohibit the possession of a firearm based on generalized and modern findings of dangerousness," Kertchen said.

In her dissent, Justice G. Helen Whitener wrote that the state is "depriving individuals of their Second Amendment constitutional right to bear arms before they commit a violent crime on the assumption that one day they might."

"The Second Amendment does not permit such preventative action," Whitener wrote.

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