A recent decision by a U.S. Appeals Court has opened the door for individuals in California to once again openly carry firearms. In a narrow 2-1 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals deemed the state’s ban unconstitutional, drawing on a landmark 2022 Supreme Court ruling.
Judge Lawrence VanDyke, appointed by former President Trump, authored the majority opinion. He delivered a forceful reprimand against California’s restrictions, highlighting that 95% of the state’s population lived in areas where open carry was prohibited. This sweeping ban extends to all counties with populations over 200,000.
VanDyke firmly declared, “For most of American history, open carry has been the default manner of lawful carry for firearms.” His ruling emphasized that more than thirty states currently permit open carry, and this practice was a significant part of California’s early history. He noted that open carry was largely unregulated from the time California became a state in 1850 until the enforcement of the Mulford Act in 1967, a law he characterized as based on questionable moral grounds.
The judge underscored the historical context of the Second Amendment, asserting that “open carry was widely recognized as being central to the Second Amendment right.” He firmly rejected the state’s argument that such a ban constituted only a “minimal burden” on these rights. Instead, he argued that banning a practice integral to the Second Amendment undermines its very purpose.
The ruling comes on the heels of a previous decision by the Ninth Circuit, which upheld California’s ban on large-capacity magazines. VanDyke’s remarks serve as both a legal precedent and a denunciation of what he termed “radical” ideologies influencing California’s gun laws.
This shift in the judicial landscape regarding gun rights in California reflects a broader discussion on the interpretation of the Second Amendment across the nation. With the majority of states supporting open carry, this decision signals a pivotal moment for gun rights activists and may reshape California’s legislative approach in the future.
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