A federal appeals panel ruled Friday that California’s law prohibiting open carry of firearms in more populated counties is unconstitutional, according to a decision issued by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling was issued by two judges on a three-judge panel. The judges found California’s policy limiting open carry to counties with a population of less than 200,000 is inconsistent with the Second Amendment.
In the decision, the judges wrote that “California’s legal regime is a complete ban on open carry in urban areas — the areas of the state where 95% of the people live.”
A dissenting judge disagreed. The dissent said California could limit open carry in more populated areas because the state allows for concealed carry throughout the state.
The case comes amid a long-running debate over gun laws in the United States and in California, which has passed a series of restrictions.
It followed a lawsuit filed by Mark Baird, a Siskiyou County resident, asking the courts to restore the historical practice of open carry being allowed.
Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said he expected state officials to seek review of the ruling by the full appeals court. Michel also said a key question in the case is how a 2022 Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights should be applied.
The press office for Gov. Gavin Newsom responded in a social media statement. It said the state’s law was carefully crafted to comply with the Second Amendment, and it argued that the decision would put guns back in cities—saying, “California just got military troops with weapons of war off of the streets of our cities, but now Republican activists on the Ninth Circuit want to replace them with gunslingers and return to the days of the Wild West,” according to the statement.