A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a California law that would have banned the carrying of firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment to the US Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones.
The law signed by Gavin Newsom in September is set to take effect Jan. 1.
It would ban people from carrying concealed weapons in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos.
The ban will apply whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon or not. One exception is for privately owned businesses that post signs stating that people are allowed to carry firearms on their premises.
US District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction blocking the law, which he wrote was “sweeping, abhorrent to the Second Amendment, and openly defies the Supreme Court.”
Court cases against the law will continue while the law is blocked. The judge wrote that human rights groups would likely succeed in proving it unconstitutional, meaning it would be permanently overturned.
California’s Gavin Newsom stands next to President Joe Biden during a visit to the Lucy Evans Baylands Interpretive and Nature Conservation Center June 19, 2023. REUTERS
The decision is a victory for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, which sued to block the law.
The move overhauls state regulations for concealed carry permits based on the US Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which has left several states scrambling to respond with their own laws.
The ruling said that the constitutionality of gun laws must be evaluated on whether they are “consistent with the historical tradition of national gun regulation.”
“California’s progressive politicians refuse to accept the Supreme Court’s mandate from the Bruen case and are trying every creative trick they can think of to get around it,” the California association’s president, Chuck Michel, said in a statement. “Courts see through the State’s tactics.”
The law would ban people from carrying concealed weapons in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. AP
Michel said under the law, gun permit holders “will not be able to drive across town without going through restricted areas and breaking the law.”
He said the judge’s decision makes Californians safer because criminals are deterred when law-abiding citizens can defend themselves.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office will appeal the ruling, which he said if allowed to stand “will harm the community by allowing firearms in places where families and children gather.”
Newsom said he would continue to push for stricter gun measures.
“Defying common sense, this decision outrageously calls California’s data-backed gun safety efforts ‘disgusting.’ What is abhorrent is this decision, which shines a light on the proliferation of guns in our hospitals, libraries, and children’s playgrounds — spaces that should be safe for all,” the governor said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Newsom has positioned himself as a national leader on gun control while he is increasingly seen as a potential presidential candidate.
He has called for and signed numerous bills, including measures targeting untraceable “ghost guns,” the marketing of firearms to children and allowing the public to bring lawsuits over gun violence.
In September, a federal judge struck down another California law that would have banned high-capacity magazines in the state. AP
The law is modeled on Texas’ anti-abortion law.
Carney is a former Orange County Superior Court judge appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
