The California law that would have made it illegal to carry a gun in most public places was briefly stopped by a federal judge on Wednesday. The judge said that the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and takes away people’s right to protect themselves and their families.
The law began on January 1 after being signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September. People would not have been able to carry guns in 26 places, such as public parks and schools, churches, banks, and zoos.
No matter if the person has a pass to carry a hidden weapon or not, they would still be banned. One case where this wouldn’t apply is to privately owned companies that post signs saying that people can bring guns inside.
According to U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, the law was “sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.” He ordered a preliminary stay to stop it.
The judges ruled in favor of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, which had sued to stop the law. Because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which made many states rush to make their laws, the measure changed the state’s rules for concealed carry licenses.
In that ruling, it was said that gun laws should be checked to see if they are “consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
“Progressive politicians in California refuse to follow the Supreme Court’s order from the Bruen case and are using every clever trick they can think of to get around it,” Chuck Michel, head of the California Association, said in a statement. “The Court saw through the State’s gambit.”
Michel said that people with gun permits “wouldn’t be able to drive across town without breaking the law by going through a prohibited area.” He said that the judge’s ruling makes California safer because thieves are less likely to do bad things when law-abiding people can protect themselves.
Newsom said that he will keep working for tighter gun laws.
“This decision goes against common sense by calling California’s gun safety attempts, which are based on facts, “repugnant.” What’s wrong is this decision, which lets a lot of guns into places that should be safe for everyone, like hospitals, libraries, and parks for kids, the governor said in a statement Wednesday night.
Rob Bonta, the attorney general of California, also spoke out against the decision and said he would be appealing it.
“If allowed to stand, this decision would endanger communities by allowing guns in places where families and children gather,” said Bonta in a statement. Guns in public places that are already unsafe don’t make our neighborhoods safer; in fact, they make them less safe.
The facts show that putting more guns in dangerous areas makes everyone less safe. My team has been told to file an appeal to get this decision thrown out. We think the court got this wrong, and SB 2 follows the rules set by the Supreme Court in Bruen. We will ask the appeal court what they think to fix it.
Newsom has set himself up as a national leader on gun control, and more and more people are looking at him as a possible presidential candidate.
He pushed for and signed many bills, such as ones that make it easier to sue over gun crime, make it harder to track down “ghost guns,” and stop the sale of guns to kids. That law was based on a law in Texas that is against abortion.
Carney was named to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003. He used to be a judge in Orange County Superior Court.