Longtime CNN anchor Lynne Russell was a staple for the news network back in the good old days, with her face greeting and reporting on important headlines for stories happening all across the nation during the popular Headline News program. Now, she’s about to make headlines of her own as she is listed as the lead plaintiff in what could end up becoming a massive Second Amendment challenge in our nation’s capital. Russell is taking on D.C.’s prohibition concerning “off-body” carrying of firearms and weapons, which would include carrying a gun in a purse for example. Why is Russell so passionate about the issue? It was carrying a weapon in her purse that enabled her to survive a shootout with an armed assailant back in 2015.

According to Jonathan Turley, the renowned legal expert, “Russell’s nightmare began when the armed assailant grabbed her outside of their motel in Albuquerque, New Mexico and forced her into her room. He then threw her across the room on to the bed as her husband, Chuck De Caro, a former CNN correspondent, was coming out of the shower. Russell then had the amazing calmness and control to suggest to her husband that there might be something in her purse that the man would want. Inside was her gun and De Caro pulled it out and exchanged fire with the man. He was shot three times but survived. The assailant did not. Both Russell and De Caro showed amazing courage. The fact that De Caro could come out of a shower naked and immediately engage a gunman in a shootout is worthy of a Die Hard sequel.”

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And now Russell has taken up the cause and is fighting for the right of others, especially that of one of the more vulnerable portions of the population, women, so they can use off-body carry in order to keep themselves safe in a world that is seemingly growing more dangerous by the day. Turley states in his article that for a lot of women, concealed carry in a holster is not a very convenient option with various aspects of ladies’ fashion, like dresses for example. Carrying a gun in a purse allows women to have their weapon close at hand regardless of what they might have chosen to wear that day.

According to D.C. Municipal Regulation 24-2344.1 and 24-2344.2, residents are told, “A licensee shall carry any pistol in a manner that it is entirely hidden from view of the public when carried on or about a person, or when in a vehicle in such a way as it is entirely hidden from view of the public. A licensee shall carry any pistol in a holster on their person in a firmly secure manner that is reasonably designed to prevent loss, theft, or accidental discharge of the pistol.”

Using a holster, according to Turley, also makes women a target for felons who want to get their hands on a weapon. It sticks out under dresses and would attract unwanted attention that could potentially turn ladies into victims of violent crime. The law expert also believes that Russell has a strong case, believing that under post-Bruen jurisprudence, it will be extremely difficult for the city to show any sort of historical support for limiting a person’s gun rights to strictly on-body carry.

The Court says that “when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.” If the government wants to find a way to get around that presumption, it will have to show that the regulation is consistent with the historical tradition of gun regulation in the United States. The city will not likely be able to find any such gun laws in the early years of our country that support weapons being barred from being carried off-body. During the founding era, guns like muskets were often carried on the backs of horses or at arm’s reach. That means you probably aren’t going to find laws that ban such a practice.

“I have previously written how New York, D.C., and Chicago are examples of Democratic cities that routinely commit lasting self-inflicted wounds to gun control efforts with poorly conceived and poorly drafted measures. In 2008, the District of Columbia brought us District of Columbia v. Heller, the watershed decision declaring that the Second Amendment protects the individual right of gun possession. In 2010, Chicago brought us McDonald v. City of Chicago, in which the Court declared that that right is incorporated against state and local government,” Turley wrote. He also noted that these cities continue to hand gifts over to advocates for gun rights as they often result in losses for those opposing our Constitutional right to protect ourselves with guns and other related weaponry.

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