A new California law which would prohibit the carry of guns in most public places took effect Monday, following a federal appeals court ruling.
The law, known as Senate Bill 2, prohibits anyone from carrying concealed firearms in 26 types of public spaces, including parks, playgrounds, sidewalks and parking lots in school zones, churches, zoos, and several other locations.
The California Rifle and Pistol Association sued to block the law. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney issued an injunction blocking SB 2 in December in response to the suit, ruling large parts of the law unconstitutional. Carney called it “ sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.”
However, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the injunction on Saturday, pending a future decision by the appellate court.
“A stay is necessary to allow the State to enforce the enjoined provisions of this statute, which the Legislature has determined will reduce gun violence in certain sensitive locations involving the exercise of other constitutional rights or that draw particularly vulnerable populations, like children,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office wrote to the 9th Circuit, requesting the injunction be reversed.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the 9th Circuit’s order in a tweet, stating it would “allow our common-sense gun laws to remain in place while we appeal the district court’s dangerous ruling.”
The CRPA pledged on Monday to continue the legal battle.
