A three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has struck down California’s restrictive ban on open carry in urban areas, affirming the constitutional right to bear arms as guaranteed by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. The decision, detailed in the case Baird v. Bonta, marks a significant blow to the state’s long-standing efforts to limit firearm carry, particularly in its most populous counties.
The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by Mark Baird, a law-abiding California citizen who challenged the state’s prohibition on openly carrying firearms in counties with populations exceeding 200,000. This ban, affecting approximately 95% of California’s residents, was deemed unconstitutional by a panel of judges, including Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who authored the majority opinion. The court’s decision reverses a district court’s summary judgment in favor of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, affirming that the state’s urban open-carry ban violates historical traditions of firearm rights.
The Ninth Circuit’s ruling hinges on the landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, which established that firearm regulations must align with the nation’s historical traditions. Judge VanDyke’s opinion emphasizes that open carry was a fundamental right at the time of the Founding and the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. “There is no record of any law restricting open carry at the Founding, let alone a distinctly similar historical regulation,” Judge VanDyke noted, highlighting California’s failure to justify its ban with historical precedent.
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