9th Circuit strikes down California large-county open-carry ban
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2–1 decision, ruled that California’s ban on openly carrying firearms in counties with more than 200,000 residents — covering about 95% of the state’s population — violates the Second Amendment under the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen standard. Writing for the majority, Judge Lawrence VanDyke said the historical record shows open carry is part of the nation’s tradition of firearm regulation, noted California allowed open carry until 2012, and partially reversed a lower court’s 2023 dismissal of gun owner Mark Baird’s 2019 suit while upholding open-carry licensing rules in smaller counties.
📌 Key Facts
- A 2–1 panel of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit struck down California’s open-carry ban in counties with populations above 200,000.
- Judge Lawrence VanDyke’s majority opinion held the ban conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen decision, which requires gun laws to align with the nation’s historical firearm regulation tradition.
- The ruling overturns part of a 2023 district court decision in a 2019 lawsuit by gun owner Mark Baird and leaves in place licensing rules for open carry in smaller, less-populous counties.
- California only enacted its urban open-carry ban in 2012, having previously allowed residents to openly carry holstered handguns without penalty.
📊 Relevant Data
The 2012 California law banning the open carry of unloaded handguns was enacted due to concerns that open carry creates potentially dangerous situations for citizens, particularly in interactions with law enforcement and the public.
AB 144 Assembly Bill - Bill Analysis — California Legislative Information
The 2012 ban on open carry of unloaded handguns in California resulted in a significant decrease in both firearm-related fatalities and hospital utilization for firearm injuries.
Banning open carry of unloaded handguns decreases firearm-related fatalities and hospital admissions — NIH
In 2020, California saw a rise of more than 500 homicides, with victims predominantly Black and Latino males; Black residents, who represent 6% of the state's population, accounted for more than a third of the increase in homicides, while Latinos accounted for almost half.
Gun Deaths Drive California’s Largest-Ever Rise in Homicides — Public Policy Institute of California
In California, from 2020-2021, 79% of hospitalized nonfatal gun assault survivors were Hispanic (43%) or Black (36%), with 89% being male and predominantly aged 13-39; Black teen boys in the US face a 10x higher rate of gun homicide deaths compared to White teen boys (51.5% vs. 5.0% of deaths).
OGVP Data Report: The Impact of Gun Violence in California — California Department of Justice
States that relaxed conceal carry permit restrictions saw a 13% increase in state-level firearm assault rates, according to a study analyzing data from 1980 to 2019.
Study Finds Significant Increase in Firearm Assaults in States that Relaxed Conceal Carry Permit Restrictions — Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health