On September 12, 2023, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 2, sending it to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature. SB 2 amends California’s gun laws and implements an expansive new ban on areas where a person could lawfully carry a handgun – many of which were previously unregulated.
Like New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Hawaii, the California legislature opted to bar the carrying of arms in areas such as public parks, restaurants that serve alcohol (regardless of whether the individual carrying consumes alcohol), churches, libraries, on public transportation, and on private property where the owner or lessee has not posted that the carrying of arms is permissible. Put simply, California’s new law would make carrying a firearm for self-defense an exercise in theory rather than a practical reality.
On September 12, 2023, the Second Amendment Foundation, joined by eleven individuals, and four civil rights organizations, filed suit against California’s Attorney General and Does 1-10. The lawsuit seeks a a preliminary and permanent injunction, along with a declaration that the Defendants violated the Second and Fourteenth Amendments and that SB 2 and California Penal Code § 26230(a) includes areas that are not “sensitive places” consistent with our nation’s history and tradition.
Case Team: C.D. Michel, Sean Brady, Konstadinos Moros, Donald Kilmer
Case Documents
To access all of the case documents, please visit the docket.
Case Media