The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way just before the start of the new year for a California law that will ban the legal carrying of guns in many public places. The law is set to go into effect today (January 1). The court suspended the injunction imposed on the law by a lower court judge who determined the new law violated the Second Amendment rights of citizens in the state.
According to Reuters and other news reports, “a three-judge panel issued an administrative stay that temporarily put the injunction on hold until a different 9th Circuit panel could consider pausing the lower-court judge’s order for even longer…”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been eyeing a presidential run on the Democratic Party ticket, was quick to make a statement.
“This ruling will allow California’s common-sense gun laws to remain in place while we appeal the district court’s dangerous ruling,” he said. Citizens should always beware when politicians use the words “common-sense” and “gun laws” in the same sentence as typically suggests the laws will be anything, BUT, common sense.
The measure was signed into law by Newsom in September and was in passed by the state’s Democratic-majority legislature following the Supreme Court’s June 2023 ruling that struck down New York State’s restrictions on legally carrying concealed firearms and how such permits are decided upon. In that ruling, the Court explicitly stated with clarity that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to “keep and bear arms.”
In response, angry Democrats passed the California measure that would ban the carrying of firearms, even by concealed carry permit holders, from 26 different places including hospitals, parks, playgrounds, churches and bars, regardless of whether a person is drinking or not.
No doubt this isn’t the last the courts will be reviewing this case, as it could well wind up in front of the Supreme Court as well.
Sean Utley Photo