One last time, from Reuters: US appeals court prevents California from banning guns in most public places:
A federal appeals court on Saturday allowed a judge’s ruling that barred California from enforcing a new law that bans the carrying of guns in most public places on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to take effect.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved an order by a different 9th Circuit panel from a week earlier that suspended an injunction issued by a judge who concluded the Democratic-led state’s law violated the right of citizens to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.
Last week’s order had temporarily stayed the injunction and allowed the law to take effect on Jan. 1. Gun rights groups then asked the 9th Circuit to reconsider, and on Saturday a different panel of judges dissolved the order suspending the injunction….
California’s appeal of the injunction will now be heard in April. The state’s attorney general in court papers had argued “tens of millions of Californians will face a heightened risk of gun violence” if the law was blocked.
“This dangerous decision puts the lives of Californians on the line,” said Daniel Villaseñor, a spokesperson for Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, who signed the measure into law in September.
One key point is that the Second Circuit recently, as mentioned, struck down New York’s ban on concealed carry in houses of worship. The Second Circuit also struck down the ban on concealed carry in places open to the public unless the proprietor put signage up indicating that carry was allowed.
If either of these provisions survives in California, that would set up a classic “circuit split.” A circuit split is a situation where two U.S, Courts of Appeal differ in their interpretation of the law, in this case how far the regime born of Bruen extends the right to carry concealed firearms for personal protection. In such a case, the Supreme Court might very well take one or both cases to resolve the split and impart unity on this important question.
