Gun owners sue D.C. to be able to carry concealed firearms on Metro

Residents of Virginia and Washington, D.C., are suing the nation's capital to try to lift its ban on carrying concealed handguns on Metrorail and Metro buses within city limits.

The four plaintiffs argue in the lawsuit that many of D.C.'s current restrictions on where individuals can carry a concealed handgun – including schools, restaurants and government buildings – indeed have merit, but a ban on carrying while on public transportation is unjustified, the DCist reports.

"There is not a tradition or history of prohibitions of carrying firearms on public transportation vehicles," states the lawsuit filed by attorney George Lyon. "Public transportation systems did not exist as they do today at the founding of the nation.

"However, there was plainly a tradition of firearms carry when citizens traveled from their homes. In modern parlance, Americans carried arms to prevent their gatherings from becoming soft targets."

The lawsuit was filed a week after the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that placed restrictions on carrying a concealed gun outside the home.

The high court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the law's clause requiring people applying for concealed carry permits to show they had a special reason or need to defend themselves beyond just general self-defense violated the Second Amendment.

The ruling raised constitutional questions about limits on carrying guns outside the home that could result in other lawsuits beyond D.C.