US Appeals Court Allows California Gun Ban to Take Effect Despite Ongoing Litigation

Guns confiscated by the Santa Ana Police Department are displayed for a press event in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 11, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

California’s controversial new gun law that prohibits concealed carry of firearms in most public places was allowed to go into effect Jan. 1 following a last-minute decision by the 9th Circuit federal appeals court.

The three-judge panel in Los Angeles issued a temporary stay Dec. 30 against a lower court’s injunction against Senate Bill 2 due to a lawsuit.

Several gun-rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit in September against SB2, saying the law unconstitutionally banned California’s concealed weapons permit holders from carrying firearms in most public and private businesses.

In that case, a U.S. district judge ruled Dec. 20 the law was unconstitutional and issued an injunction not allowing it to take effect while the organizations’ lawsuit plays out.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta Dec. 22 then filed an emergency appeal of the injunction to the federal Court of Appeals in Los Angeles.

In response, the recent ruling reversed the lower court’s injunction, allowing the law to go into effect, at least temporarily, as the lawsuit proceeds.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who signed SB 2 in September, said the ruling would give the state more time to fight for the law in court.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference in Sacramento on Feb. 1, 2023. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“This ruling will allow California’s common-sense gun laws to remain in place while we appeal the district court’s dangerous ruling,” Mr. Newsom said in a statement Dec. 30. “Californians overwhelmingly support efforts to ensure that places like hospitals, libraries and children’s playgrounds remain safe and free from guns.”

California is one of several states rewriting its concealed carry law after the 2021 Bruen decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court found that carrying a pistol in public was a constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

The decision invalidates more than a dozen state and federal laws, including one requiring those with concealed weapon permits to prove they had a “good cause” to carry a firearm concealed.

California officials aimed to circumvent the Bruen ruling by passing new gun restrictions and banning firearms from a vastly expanded list of public places.

In the new law, private citizens with concealed weapons permits can carry firearms on some streets and sidewalks, and in a few businesses and churches if there are signs declaring publicly that the business allows such.

The law designates several new “sensitive locations” where firearms are not allowed, including government buildings, courts, schools, airports, public transportation hubs, churches, playgrounds, hospitals, and any location that sells alcohol—including stores and gas stations. All state parks and recreation sites, banks, and libraries are also off-limits.

The law also raises the age limit of those who can legally buy a firearm from 18 to 21, and requires 16 hours of training for concealed weapons permit holders. Those renewing permits would be required to take an 8-hour training course.

On Dec. 20, a federal judge placed a preliminary injunction on the law, stopping the state from enacting the measure because it would essentially turn every public place in California into a “sensitive place” and abolish the Second Amendment rights of citizens.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003, sided with the gun-rights groups, calling the law “repugnant to the Second Amendment and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.”

Judge Carney found the law went too far and would “unconstitutionally deprive” concealed carry permit holders “of their constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.”

A family listens to speakers at a protest to new gun legislation at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Feb. 8, 2020. George Frey//AFP via Getty Images

The bill’s author, Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-Burbank), said he was pleased with the most recent ruling.

“I am pleased and cautiously optimistic the complete breadth of SB 2 will withstand challenges from the gun lobby,” Mr. Portantino told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Clearly, Californians will be safer when SB 2 becomes law as training, age limits, and prudent [concealed weapons permit] standards are in the best interest of the public.”

The Firearms Policy Coalition, one of the groups fighting the new law in court, said they anticipate winning the lawsuit eventually.

“No level of support justifies violating the rights of peaceable people, and the death of these public carry bans is inevitable,” the organization posted Dec. 30 on social media platform X.