Yesterday a US District Judge in California left no ambiguity our doubt about his thoughts on California’s efforts to limit the right to keep and bear arms by enacting SB2 following the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney blocked most of the law in an injunction issued last night the May v. Bonta.
…California will not allow concealed carry permitholders to effectively practice what the Second Amendment promises. SB2’s coverage is sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court. The law designates twenty-six categories of places, such as hospitals, public transportation, places that sell liquor for on-site consumption, playgrounds, parks, casinos, stadiums, libraries, amusement parks, zoos, places of worship, and banks, as “sensitive places” where concealed carry permitholders cannot carry their handguns. SB2 turns nearly every public place in California into a “sensitive place,” effectively abolishing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and exceptionally qualified citizens to be armed and to defend themselves in public.
How’s this for being direct? As Judge Carney rightly noted . . .
CCW permitholders are among the most responsible, reliable law-abiding citizens. They have been through a vigorous vetting and training process following their application to carry a concealed handgun. The challenged SB2 provisions unconstitutionally deprive this group of their constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.
Pretty much. The injunction blocks enforcement of the law that criminalized even licensed concealed carry in 26 categories of locations the state arbitrarily designated as “sensitive places.” Judge Carney pointed out that . . .
SB2 turns nearly every public place in California into a “sensitive place,” effectively abolishing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and exceptionally qualified citizens to be armed and to defend themselves in public.
As the Firearms Policy Coalition put it in announcing the victory . . .
“This is a great day for Californians and human liberty,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “Today’s decision is yet another FPC win preventing tyrants like Attorney General Bonta from putting you in prison for exercising your fundamental rights. The court’s decision is both well-reasoned and the required result under the Constitution and binding Supreme Court precedent. As an aside, we hope Governor Hair Gel is getting used to losing so much and look forward to hearing him cry harder as we dismantle California’s immoral and unconstitutional gun control regime.”
The Second Amendment Foundation was also a party to the suit. Alan Gottlieb said . . .
“SB2 is not only an affront to the right to keep and bear arms,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “it’s an insult to the intelligence of every honest citizen in the Golden State. It amounts to a massive prohibition on legal carry throughout the state, which runs counter to what the U.S. Supreme Court said in its Bruen ruling last year. Thankfully, Judge Carney sent a message to Gov. Newsom and anti-gun-rights state lawmakers that they can’t get away with this.”
The suit was filed by a group of Second Amendment rights organizations. Similar orders have been issued blocking the same types of “sensitive places” carry bans in Hawaii, Maryland New Jersey and New York.
Merry Christmas, Governor Newsom.
