A federal court has blocked a restrictive California law that would have banned carrying guns almost everywhere in public, including at places like churches and playgrounds.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Saturday ruled to halt implementation of the law after a previous panel of judges on the court had allowed the law to take effect on December 30. The law would have heavily restricted anyone, even people with permits, from carrying in public. The California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) sued to block the law after Governor Gavin Newsom signed it in September. The court is expected to hear full arguments on the law in April.
“This dangerous decision puts the lives of Californians on the line. We won’t stop working to defend our decades of progress on gun safety in our state,” Newsom’s office said of the latest court ruling.
The law would have banned carrying guns in private businesses, unless the business expressly put up a sign saying that individuals were allowed to carry. Guns would have been banned on public transportation, at public gatherings, in parking areas, in parks and at playgrounds, sports venues, casinos, hospitals and clinics, churches, and banks, according to the L.A. Times.
The CRPA celebrated the decision from the court, saying that it meant “the conceal carry in sensitive places portion of SB2 is not enforceable!”
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The law was initially blocked by U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney who called it “sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.”
“Although the government may have some valid safety concerns, legislation regulating [concealed carry] permitholders — the most responsible of law abiding citizens seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights — seems an odd and misguided place to focus to address those safety concerns,” Carney, a George W. Bush appointee, said.
“They have been through a vigorous vetting and training process following their application to carry a concealed handgun,” he wrote. “The challenged SB2 provisions unconstitutionally deprive this group of their constitutional right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.”