A federal appeals court put a temporary hold on an injunction against a new California gun law, the Los Angeles Times report. The law bans gun holders from carrying their firearms into a variety of public places despite an ongoing challenge to its legitimacy. A federal district judge last month rejected major portions of the law as unconstitutional and issued an injunction blocking it from taking effect while gun holders challenge it in court. Whether the law will ultimately survive the court challenge and remain in place in the long run remains uncertain. The law precludes licensed gun carriers from having their firearms at public gatherings and special events, in parks and playgrounds, in stadiums, arenas and casinos, in medical facilities, religious institutions and financial institutions, on public transportation and in many parking areas, among other spaces.
It also stops them from carrying their firearms anywhere that liquor is sold and consumed and in any other private commercial spaces where the owners have not explicitly posted a sign to the contrary. The law applies to concealed-carry permit holders in major metropolitan centers such as Los Angeles. It also affects open-carry permit holders in rural, less populated parts of the state. The law was passed by the California Legislature and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year in response to several mass shootings, including in Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park, and a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2022 that reined in gun control measures nationally. The Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen held that strict limits on concealed carry permits amounted to unconstitutional restraints on people’s right to self-defense, and that gun laws that aren’t deeply rooted in American history, or analogous to some historical law, are generally unconstitutional.