The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has once again blocked the enforcement of California’s new concealed carry law that went into effect on January 1. This order is a reversal of a decision made a week earlier by a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit that stayed a preliminary injunction by a district court judge.
“The administrative stay previously entered (Docket Entry No. 10 in 23-4354; Docket Entry No. 17 in 23-4356) is dissolved,” the order reads. “The emergency motion under Circuit Rule 27-3 for a stay pending appeal and for an interim administrative stay (Docket Entry No. 4 in No. 23-4354; Docket Entry No. 4 in No. 23-4356) is denied pending further order of the court.”
The order means that Californians no longer must worry about violating the law known as SB2. The law would have made much of the state a gun-free zone for law-abiding Californians.
The law was passed by the California legislature and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom last year. Much like New York State’s Concealed Carry Improvement Act (CCIA), the law was passed as a repudiation of the landmark Supreme Court decision in New York State Pistol Rifle Association v. Bruen that struck down all “may issue” laws across the country.
The California law was challenged by Reno May, who has a popular YouTube channel, in May v. Bonta. He was joined in the suit by the California Rifle Pistol Association (CRPA), Gun Owners of America (GOA), Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), Gun Owners of California (GOC), and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Orange County Gun Owners (OCGO), San Diego County Gun Owners (SDCGO), and California Gun Rights Foundation (CGRF) launched their own legal challenge against the law two weeks after May filed. Their case is Carralero v. Bonta.
In December, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney ruled that the law was unconstitutional and defied the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision. He would issue a preliminary injunction blocking the law from going into effect before a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately stayed his order.
“SB2’s coverage is sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court,” Judge Carney wrote. “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.”
In addition to lifting the stay, the court also combined both cases. Oral arguments are scheduled for April, but the court could reinstate part or all of the stay before the court date.
AmmoLand News reached out to California Attorney General Rob Bonta for a comment, but our phone calls and text messages were not returned at the time of writing.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
There must be more to this than the courts. Legislators must be changed.
https://thereload.fireside.fm/gun-law-professor-on-why-firearms-restrictions-are-still-hard-to-fight
we are winning in the courtrooms but that is the expensive route to go.
Get involved with political campaigns to oust those to deny and restrict our civil rights. That takes our time but saves us money.
Hey, Governess Tina Kotex!! Kate Shit Stain Brown and our legislature with the help of RINO’s did this with your gun free zone laws in addition to making it a felony to carry in any place posted as a gun free zone and any business, school etc. can be gun free, it’s their choice. The time is short that Oregoneistan will have these powers over the people. Our superior court judges are supporting the constitution and you, newsom, houchel and others will be made to follow the law if not by the feds, by the people because we are sick… Read more »
California Attorney General Rob Bonta was unavailable because he was drinking Bud Light down at the gay bars trying to recruit cross dressers for children’s reading sessions at the local public library as well as recruiting for the FBI for their instigation department (which is the entire FBI.) And when he’s done there he needs to meet with Gavin about how to continue to steal elections. But only if Gavin is not molesting children at the moment.
I am surprised that the 9th Circuit gave in so easily. If we can bring down Illinois, New York, and the other eastern seaboard states, I think we have a chance to get our rights back, maybe even beyond the 2nd Amendment. But I also believe we should nail down our current wins by visibly carrying our weapons so that people will get used to it. I see just about zero people with weapon strapped on in public. If I were a non-weapon person I would not know what the news was talking about with gun free zones and court… Read more »
Another court ruling…To be Ignored. The ink is likely already dry on the next. slightly different worded piece of legislation. To do the same thing.