Appeals Court Strikes Down California Open-Carry Ban

“Quite the opposite: in antebellum America it was clear that open carry was widely seen as entitled to special constitutional protection,” VanDyke wrote.

“In our Nation’s history and tradition, open carry was widely recognized as being central to the Second Amendment right,” VanDyke wrote in invalidating California’s law. “A ban on that which is at the core of the Second Amendment is not a ‘minimal burden’ on the Second Amendment right.”

In a separate opinion, Lee accused California of misleading citizens in small counties, where the ban doesn’t apply, about how they can receive an open carry permit.

“But that appears to be the very point—California tries to hide the fact that citizens in those counties have a right to open carry their weapon under the law,” Lee wrote. “Our constitutional rights, however, should not hinge on a Where’s Waldo quiz.”

In dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith said his colleagues had misread the Supreme Court’s Second Amendment expansion. Smith was appointed by former President George W. Bush.

“A state may not prohibit the public carriage of firearms by eliminating both open and concealed carry, but a state can lawfully eliminate one manner of carry to protect and ensure the safety of its citizens, as long as they are able to carry in another manner,” he wrote.