US appeals court strikes down California open-carry gun ban

A federal appeals court on Friday overturned California’s ban on open carrying of firearms in most of the state.

In a 2-1 decision, the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s ban on open carry in counties with populations over 200,000 — covering about 95% of the state’s population — violated the Second Amendment, according to Reuters.

U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, writing for the majority, said the ban conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, which requires gun regulations to be consistent with the country’s “historic tradition of gun regulation,” Reuters reported.

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U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke appears in a video released by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on March 20, 2025. (9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals/Handout via Reuters)

“The historical record clearly shows that open carry is part of the history and tradition of this nation,” VanDyke wrote. “It was clearly protected at the time of the founding and at the time of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

VanDyke also noted that California previously allowed residents to openly carry holstered handguns for self-defense without penalty until 2012.

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A pistol is hidden in a belt. (iStock)

“That only changed when California enacted its ban on open urban transportation just over a decade ago, in 2012,” he said. “In doing so, California joined a tiny minority of states to have adopted such severe restrictions on open carry.”

The ruling overturned part of a 2023 lower court ruling that dismissed a 2019 lawsuit filed by gun owner Mark Baird while rejecting his challenge to allowing open carry in smaller counties, according to Reuters.

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A retail store in San Ramon, California on July 21, 2019. (Collection Smith/Gado/Getty Images)

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In October, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun groups said they were suing California over the state’s ban on Glock-style weapons with features known as switches that allow them to be converted into fully automatic weapons.

The NRA was joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, the Second Amendment Foundation, Poway Weapons & Gear and two NRA members in challenging the state’s ban.

Landon Mion of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.