On January 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down California’s ban on open carry in most of the state. The panel decision was 2-1.
The court ruled that California’s ban on open carry in counties with more than 200,000 people—which includes the counties in which about 95% of the state’s population resides—violates the Second Amendment.
The majority opinion was written by U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke. He is the same judge who released a video explanation of how semi-automatic firearms work. At the time, he explained, “I share this [video] not to supplement the factual record that we’re using to decide this case,” but “because a rudimentary understanding of how guns are made, sold, used and commonly modified makes obvious why California’s proposed tests and the one my colleagues are adopting today simply does not work.”
In this case, which is known as Baird v. Bonta, Judge VanDyke wrote that the “panel held that California’s ban on open carry in counties with a population greater than 200,000 is inconsistent with the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Applying the standard set forth in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen (2022), the historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this Nation’s history and tradition. It was clearly protected at the time of the Founding and at the time of the adoption of the FourteenthAmendment. There is no record of any law restricting open carry at the Founding, let alone a distinctly similar historicalregulation.”
Indeed, VanDyke also wrote that California previously allowed residents to openly carry unloaded holstered handguns without penalty until 2012. Openly carrying loaded firearms did not face restrictions in California until the Mulford Act of 1967.
“That changed only when California enacted its urban open-carry ban barely over a decade ago in 2012,” said Judge VanDyke. “In doing so, California joined a tiny minority of states to have adopted such severe restrictions on open carry.”
The Ninth Circuit has a habit of holding en banc (full court) votes to overturn pro-Second Amendment rulings. We’ll keep you informed on any further developments.
