Ninth Circuit Gut-Punches California Gun Limits

California’s gun control push is colliding with the Constitution, and Gavin Newsom keeps losing ground.

Quick Take

A federal judge blocked California’s new concealed carry limits after calling them a direct attack on the Second Amendment.^[1]^[5]
The Ninth Circuit later restored that block, giving gun rights groups another court win.^[1]
A separate Ninth Circuit ruling also struck down California’s broad open carry ban in most of the state.^[3]^[8]
The Supreme Court’s Bruen decision still hangs over every California gun law fight because it demands a historical basis for restrictions.^[4]

Judge Says California Went Too Far

A federal judge in California stopped a state law that would have banned concealed carry in most public places. The law covered parks, playgrounds, churches, banks, and zoos, and it applied even to people with carry permits. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney said the measure was “sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court.”^[1]^[5]

That ruling cut straight through the state’s claim that it could turn nearly every public space into a gun-free zone. The judge found that California had gone far beyond a narrow safety rule. Instead, the law treated ordinary public places as off-limits by default. For gun owners, that mattered because the state was not just regulating carry. It was trying to erase the right in daily life.^[1]^[5]

Bruen Changed the Rules

The fight traces back to the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. That ruling said firearm restrictions must fit the nation’s historical tradition of regulation.^[4] That standard has put California’s gun laws under heavy pressure, because the state now has to show more than a policy preference. It has to point to history that supports the restriction.

That is where Newsom’s approach keeps running into trouble. California has defended concealed carry rules as public safety measures, but courts have not accepted safety claims by themselves after Bruen. In plain terms, the state cannot just say a law sounds sensible. It has to show that similar limits were common when the Second Amendment was understood.^[4]

More Court Losses for California

California also took a major hit when the Ninth Circuit struck down the state’s ban on open carry in most of the state. The court’s January 2026 decision said the ban on open carry in counties with more than 200,000 residents violated the Second Amendment.^[3]^[8] That ruling mattered because it covered most Californians and showed that the state’s broad restrictions were not holding up well in federal court.

When Reality Bites: Gavin Newsom Has No Clue on Concealed Carryhttps://t.co/kjxSSacyy9

— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) June 28, 2026

These rulings do not end the debate, but they weaken California’s hand. The state still has a large legal machine, and Attorney General Rob Bonta keeps defending the laws. Yet the pattern is clear: when California stretches gun control too far, federal judges keep pushing back.^[1]^[3] For readers who value constitutional limits, that is the central issue. The state keeps acting like rights can be reduced to whatever Sacramento wants.

What Comes Next

California’s concealed carry fight is not over, and the final answer could still move higher in the court system. For now, the state’s broad public carry limits remain blocked, and the open carry ban has also been knocked down in a major ruling.^[1]^[3] That leaves Newsom with a simple problem. He can keep signing laws, but federal courts are now forcing his team to defend them under a much tougher constitutional test.

The bigger lesson is about power. California keeps trying to expand government control over lawful gun owners, while courts keep reminding the state that the Second Amendment is not a suggestion. Each new loss makes the same point louder. If lawmakers want to restrict carry, they need rules that fit the Constitution, not just slogans about safety.^[4]