U.S. Appeals Court Rules California’s Open-Carry Ban Unconstitutional

Reuters

U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke appears in a video released by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in most parts of the state is unconstitutional, marking a significant development in ongoing legal challenges to gun-control laws across the United States.

In a decision issued on Friday, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, sided with a gun owner in finding that California’s prohibition on open carry in counties with populations exceeding 200,000 violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Approximately 95 percent of California’s population lives in counties of that size.

U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, said the Democratic-led state’s law could not withstand scrutiny under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen. That decision established that firearms regulations must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation.

“The historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this nation’s history and tradition,” VanDyke wrote, noting that open carry predates the ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791. He added that more than 30 states currently permit open carry and that California itself allowed the practice until 2012.

The ruling partially overturned a 2023 lower-court decision that had rejected a 2019 challenge to the law brought by gun owner Mark Baird. While the appeals court largely ruled in Baird’s favour, it rejected his separate challenge to California’s licensing system in smaller counties, which may issue open-carry permits.

Senior U.S. Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, appointed by former President George W. Bush, dissented, arguing that all of California’s restrictions complied with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision. He said the court had “got this case half right”.

A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office defended the ban, said the state is reviewing its legal options. “We are committed to defending California’s common-sense gun laws,” the spokesperson said.

The Bruen ruling has prompted a wave of legal challenges nationwide against modern firearms regulations. In September 2024, a separate 9th Circuit panel upheld a California law barring people with concealed-carry permits from carrying firearms in designated “sensitive places”, including bars, parks, zoos, stadiums and museums.

Source: Reuters




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