California's 'Repugnant' Restrictions on
Public Gun Possession Just Took Effect

California's sweeping new restrictions on public possession of firearms, many of which a federal judge enjoined this month after deeming them "repugnant to the Second Amendment," took effect today thanks to a stay that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued on Saturday. That means Californians with permits that notionally allow them to carry concealed handguns will have to think twice before using them, because the state has declared a long list of locations they routinely visit to be "sensitive places" where firearms are prohibited.

Senate Bill 2, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on September 26, makes it a crime for permit holders to carry their handguns in 26 categories of places, including parks, playgrounds, zoos, libraries, museums, banks, hospitals, places of worship, public transportation, stadiums, athletic facilities, casinos, bars, and restaurants that serve alcohol. The list also covers any "privately owned commercial establishment that is open to the public" unless the owner "clearly and conspicuously posts a sign at the entrance" saying guns are allowed.

S.B. 2 "turns nearly every public place in California into a 'sensitive place,' effectively abolishing the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding and exceptionally qualified citizens to be armed and to defend themselves in public," U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney noted on December 20, when he issued a preliminary injunction that barred the state from enforcing 15 provisions of the law. "California will not allow concealed carry permitholders to effectively practice what the Second Amendment promises. "

"SB2's coverage is sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court." .....