The ruling, which came in a long-running lawsuit filed by a Northern California resident, sets up a likely en banc review by the full 9th Circuit. The outcome could shape how one of the nation’s most restrictive gun-law regimes comports with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
A two-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that California’s law barring open carry of firearms in counties with populations above 200,000 violates the Second Amendment, a decision that drew swift condemnation from state officials and renewed debate over how courts should apply a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights. The panel found the restriction amounts to a ban covering the areas where roughly 95 percent of California’s residents live.
The ruling sets up a likely challenge before the full 9th Circuit. A gun rights group that backed the challenge said state officials are expected to seek en banc review, a process in which a larger panel of judges reconsiders a ruling by a smaller panel. The outcome could shape how one of the nation’s most restrictive state gun-law regimes comports with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen.
The ruling
The majority of the three-judge panel found California’s population-based threshold — which limits open carry to counties with fewer than 200,000 residents — is inconsistent with the Second Amendment.
“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,” the two-judge majority said in its decision.
The third member of the panel dissented. That judge said California could lawfully restrict open carry in more populated areas because the state allows concealed carry throughout its territory.
Lawsuit and next steps
The case originated with a lawsuit filed by Mark Baird, a Siskiyou County resident who asked the courts to restore what he described as the historical practice of open carry.
Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said after the ruling that he expected state officials to seek a review by the full appeals court.
“It’s a very significant opinion,” Michel said, adding that a central question in the case is how the 2022 Supreme Court decision expanding gun rights should be applied.
State response
The press office for Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement on social media defending the law.
“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,” the statement said.
The governor’s office also said the state’s law was carefully crafted to comply with the Second Amendment.