Court Rules California 'Open Carry' Ban Unconstitutional

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that California's ban on openly carrying guns in most parts of the state is unconstitutional.

A panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided 2-1 with a gun owner in ruling ‍that the state's prohibition against open carry in counties with more than 200,000 people violated the ‍Constitution's Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

About 95% of California residents live ⁠in counties of that size.

The state has had some of the nation's strictest gun control laws.

U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke said the Democrat-led state's law could not stand under the Supreme Court's 2022 landmark gun rights ruling.

That ​decision, New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, was issued by the court's 6-3 conservative supermajority and established a new legal test for gun restrictions. The test said they must be "consistent with this nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."

VanDyke, whose ‍opinion on Friday was joined by another appointee of President Donald Trump, said the latest case "unquestionably involves a historical practice — open carry — ⁠that predates ratification of the Bill of Rights in 1791."

He noted that more than 30 states generally allow open carry. California itself allowed citizens to carry handguns openly and holstered for self-defense without penalty until 2012, he said.

"The historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this Nation's history and tradition," VanDyke wrote.

The ruling partially reversed ⁠a 2023 decision by a lower-court judge who ​had rejected a 2019 challenge to ⁠the law by gun owner Mark Baird.

While the appeals court largely sided with Baird, it rejected his related challenge to California's licensing requirements in ‍counties with fewer than 200,000 residents, which may issue open-carry permits.

Senior U.S. Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith dissented, saying his colleagues "got this case half right" as all of California's restrictions complied with the Supreme Court's ruling.

A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat who defended the state's ban, in ⁠a statement ​said his office is considering its ‍options.

"We are committed to defending California's common sense gun laws," the spokesperson said.

The 2022 Supreme Court ruling has prompted court cases nationwide challenging modern gun restrictions, including in California.

A 9th Circuit panel ‍in September 2024 upheld a California law that prohibits people with concealed-carry permits from carrying guns at several categories of "sensitive places" such as bars, parks, zoos, stadiums, and museums.