A U.S. appeals court has ruled that California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in most parts of the state is unconstitutional.
On Friday, a three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2–1 in favour of gun owner Mark Baird, finding that the state’s prohibition on open carry in counties with more than 200,000 residents violated the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 95% of California’s population lives in counties of this size, which have been subject to some of the nation’s strictest gun-control laws.
U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, appointed by former Republican President Donald Trump, said the law could not withstand scrutiny under the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen. That ruling established that modern firearm restrictions must align with the nation’s historical tradition of gun regulation.
“The historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this nation’s history and tradition,” VanDyke wrote, noting that open carry predates the 1791 ratification of the Bill of Rights and that California itself allowed citizens to openly carry handguns for self-defence until 2012. His opinion was joined by another Trump appointee.
The ruling partially overturned a 2023 lower-court decision that had dismissed Baird’s 2019 challenge to the law. However, the appeals court rejected his related claim regarding open-carry licensing in smaller counties with fewer than 200,000 residents, where permits may still be issued.
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, appointed by former President George W. Bush, dissented, arguing that California’s restrictions complied with the Supreme Court’s guidance. “They got this case half right,” he said.
A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat who defended the state’s ban, said his office was reviewing the ruling and remained “committed to defending California’s common-sense gun laws.”
The 2022 Supreme Court decision has triggered a wave of legal challenges nationwide against modern firearm restrictions, including cases in California. In a related 9th Circuit decision in September 2024, the court upheld a law barring concealed-carry permit holders from bringing firearms into designated “sensitive places” such as bars, parks, zoos, stadiums and museums.
