Sheriff Sandra Hutchens has reversed her previous reversal on what constitutes “good cause” in Orange County to obtain a carry concealed weapons permit. She was responding, again, to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In Feb. 2014, a three-judge appellate panel ruled that, when issuing a permit to carry a concealed firearm, requiring more than an individual’s right to self-defense violated the Second Amendment right “to keep and bear arms.” Ms. Hutchens greatly loosened her previously tight restrictions on who got the permits.

Then, March 26, the 9th Circuit said it would hear the case “en banc,” meaning a larger panel of judges. The court effectively set aside the previous panel’s decision. According to the sheriff, in a piece published by the Register, “As a result, I must once again require CCW applicants to articulate their safety concerns and provide supporting documentation prior to being issued a permit.”

But there’s nothing the county’s chief law enforcement officer must do. Under California law, what necessitates good cause for a permit always has been up to the discretion of each county sheriff. Most counties, save for some of the most liberal in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and, now, Orange County, typically impose far less restrictive rules that recognize self-defense as a sufficient cause.

Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Jeff Hallock told us the sheriff is trying to put politics aside and follow the law as understood; he attributed the latest reversal more to the problems of legislating from the bench rather than the department’s stance on CCW.

But these editorial pages are reminded of another issue with CCW permits at the beginning of the sheriff’s term of office in 2008, when she sought to impose an unrealistically harsh standard on CCW holders. While the intent was sound – to weed out permits issued improperly by her predecessor, Mike Carona – innocent, law-abiding permit holders were harmed.

The Second Amendment does not favor applicants who, for example, want a concealed-weapon permit because they carry large sums of cash, over other law-abiding citizens. The right to bear arms is an explicit right enshrined in our Constitution and repeatedy upheld by our nation’s highest court. The sheriff would be well-advised to reverse herself again on the issue before her policy effectively weakens the right to self-defense in our county.