The state of California has enacted a measure that significantly restricts the ability of those with concealed carry permits to have their firearms in certain places. The measure came as a majority of states have loosened their firearms restrictions in recent decades, including allowing for permitless carry.
The new law would bar carry permit holders from holding in a number of public spaces including libraries, churches, parks and more. The law is similar to a law that sharply restricts access for concealed carry permit holders in New York, which was sharply protested by Second Amendment activists.
In California, the state’s Rifle and Pistol Association filed the lawsuit hoping to block the law from taking effect.
The California state legislature passed Senate Bill 2, which was temporarily blocked after it was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The initial ruling by a federal district court judge said that the new law was “repugnant to the Second Amendment.”
Despite this criticism, a federal appeals court reversed the block over the weekend, allowing it to take effect on Jan. 1.
Despite the law going into effect, the ultimate fate of the law is not clear. The appeals court will further review the case and determine whether or not it passes constitutional muster.
California argues that the entire law needs to take effect because "concealed carry permit holders have been responsible for thousands of deaths nationwide over the past decade and a half," and even if California's carry permit holders aren't causing crime, one of the law's… pic.twitter.com/t4PPsQTmhf
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) December 29, 2023
Newsom said that the law would “allow our common-sense gun laws to remain in place while we appeal the district court’s dangerous ruling. Californians overwhelmingly support efforts to ensure that places like hospitals, libraries and children’s playgrounds remain safe and free from guns.”
The governor also called the initial injunction delaying the law’s implementation was “dangerous.”
State state wrote in its court filing that it hoped to not only “reduce the number of people killed injured or traumatized by gun violence, but also to ensure that residents can exercise other constitutional rights without fear or intimidation.”
The state also argued that “concealed carry permit holders have been responsible for thousands of deaths nationwide over the past decade and a half.”
The assertion is out of context, as concealed carry permit holders are often rated as some of the most law-abiding citizens in the country.”
