It has been many decades since California first banned open carry back in 1967. The Beatles were at their height, and social change was everywhere the last time a state resident could exercise the rather fundamental right to carry a legal firearm openly.
Last week, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and other 2A advocates filed an amicus brief in Baird v. Bonta. This is the challenge before the Ninth Circuit to the longstanding ban,
California lawmakers claimed this outright infringement was ‘nuanced’
SAF Director of Legal Research and Education Kostas Moros blew holes in the Golden State’s prohibition on open carry, arguing that the state’s so-called “nuanced approach” is just a backdoor effort to nullify the right to bear arms.
“The plain text of the Second Amendment protects the right to bear arms—openly or concealed—and open carry has been the default manner of lawful carry for most of American history,” the 2A advocate insisted. “California’s ban has no foundation in our nation’s tradition, and this Court should reaffirm that open carry is protected just as the Founders and generations of Americans understood it to be.”
It is inarguable that open carry was common in the Founding Era
Moros added that open and concealed carry should absolutely be legal. These were embedded in the nation’s historical tradition from even before the Founding Era, and modern anti-gunners should not be allowed to rewrite history to suit their agenda.
The brief made no bones about the fact that the Second Amendment and the required Bruen test strongly support open carry.
“Historical precedent demonstrates a longstanding tradition of lawful open carry predating the founding of the United States,” the submission before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals argued. “Accordingly, the Second Amendment protects the right to open carry arms for lawful purposes.”
California’s egregious law will not withstand this legal challenge if the Court diligently follows the Bill of Rights and Supreme Court precedent.
That’s a “big if.”
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