Blocked: CA Expansion of Gun-Free Zones for Concealed Carriers

California’s SB2, which expanded gun-free zones for licensed concealed carry permit holders, was blocked again on Saturday in a last minute appeal from the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

On September 26, 2023, Breitbart News reported Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a “sensitive places” bill into law, expanding the number of gun-free zones in which licensed concealed carriers could not carry firearms for self-defense.

A lawsuit was filed against the new law. Plaintiffs in the case included a number of California concealed carry permit holders, the Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of America, and the California Rifle and Pistol Association.

U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney issued a preliminary injunction against the “sensitive places” law on December 20, 2023, noting that it is “openly defiant to the Supreme Court.”

But Carney’s injunction was put on hold via an administrative stay on December 30, 2023, opening the door for the expanded gun-free zones to take effect January 1, 2024. That hold has now been lifted and portions of SB2 that create a new slate of gun-free zones for licensed concealed carriers is blocked.

CRPA announced the decision blocking the “sensitive places” law on Saturday, writing, “SB2 injunction administrative stay lifted in last minute appeal to the court by our attorneys! SB2 injunction is now back in place which means the conceal carry in sensitive places portion of SB2 is not enforceable!”

The case is May v. Bonta, No. 8:23-cv-1696 in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.