On Wednesday, in a victory for Second Amendment advocates, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction blocking a California law that would have banned the carry of firearms in a wide list of public places. The law, approved by Governor Gavin Newsom in September, was set to take effect on January 1st.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction blocking the law, which he wrote was "sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court."

The decision is a victory for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, which sued to block the law. The measure overhauled the state's rules for concealed carry permits in light of the  U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, which set several states scrambling to react with their own laws. That decision said the constitutionality of gun laws must be assessed by whether they are "consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation." 

Carney was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003.

According to the President of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, Chuck Michel, the law, as written, established a patchwork of "prohibited areas" that presented a very real danger to lawful gun owners, namely that by simply driving from one place to another — say, from their home to a legal firing range — they might inadvertently pass through one of the prohibited areas.

While the California law was put in place following the Supreme Court's Bruen decision, and like many such post-Bruen laws, still arguably runs afoul of the Second Amendment, that is the basis of Judge Cormac's issuing the preliminary injunction. Governor Newsom does not appear to be deterred by the injunction:

Newsom said he will keep pushing for stricter gun measures.

"Defying common sense, this ruling outrageously calls California's data-backed gun safety efforts ‘repugnant.' What is repugnant is this ruling, which greenlights the proliferation of guns in our hospitals, libraries, and children's playgrounds - spaces, which should be safe for all," the governor said in a statement Wednesday evening. 

Newsom has positioned himself as a national leader on gun control while he is being increasingly eyed as a potential presidential candidate. He has called for and signed  a variety of bills, including measures targeting untraceable "ghost guns," the marketing of firearms to children and allowing people to bring lawsuits over gun violence. That legislation was patterned on  a Texas anti-abortion law.

All of Newsom's proposals are fraught and arguably run afoul of the Bruen decision and the Second Amendment. For example, the proposal to "allow people to bring lawsuits over gun violence" refers not to civil suits against perpetrators but against legal gun manufacturers, which is akin to suing an automobile manufacturer for causing deaths by drunk drivers; it's nonsensical and ignores the very real causes of California's crime problems.

Bruen has resulted in a nationwide reshuffling of gun laws, which may well take years to work out. Laws such as this California statute and Illinois' "assault weapon" ban have not been shown to reduce rates of violent crime, and nationwide, there are incidents almost daily in which armed citizens use their legally owned arms to prevent crimes and deter criminals. Laws like the California statute, while having little effect on criminals, pose the very real danger of placing the law-abiding afoul of an ill-considered law, as recently happened in New York.

This action, while a victory for Second Amendment advocates, is still a temporary injunction. We will continue to watch this case and bring you the latest developments as they occur.