A federal judge has ordered California to accept concealed carry applications from out-of-state residents. This victory is the second time a state has been forced to issue out-of-state concealed carry permits this month. Early in August, New York City passed an emergency order to issue permits to non-New York residents to avoid a lawsuit by Gun Owners of America (GOA).

In this case, the California Rifle Pistol Association (CRPA), Gun Owners of California (GOC), Gun Owners of America (GOA), Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) teamed up to take on the California concealed carry law, in CRPA v. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD). Plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The suit challenges California’s refusal to issue or recognize out-of-state concealed carry permits, the exorbitant fees to obtain a concealed carry permit, the long wait times, the required psychological exam, and the discretionary denials by issuing agencies.

The plaintiffs claim that the California concealed carry permit scheme was unconstitutional. They alleged that the State’s concealed carry law contradicts the Supreme Court’s Bruen opinion. Bruen says the right to bear arms extends beyond the home, and the State must have a way for Americans to carry guns for self-defense outside their residence. The ruling mandated that all states become “shall issue.” Since the California scheme had no way for an out-of-state resident to carry a firearm in California, it was in direct conflict with the Bruen legal standard, according to the plaintiffs.

California argued although the law was not consistent with the text of the Second Amendment, it was consistent with the tradition and history of the Second Amendment. Once a law is established as inconsistent with the text of the Second Amendment, the burden falls on the State to provide historical analogs from the founding era to demonstrate that the current law would have been allowed at the time of the Second Amendment’s ratification. The State provided examples of laws, but all the laws cited were based on racism, not from the founding era, or were unrelated to the California concealed carry permit law. The judge rejected the State’s attempt to justify its concealed carry permit scheme by citing racist laws, laws from the 20th century, and laws that were not similar to the California law.

“For clarity and for purposes of this Motion: the present issue is that nonresident Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights to lawfully carry firearms in public for self-defense are burdened—indeed, entirely barred—by California’s statute that allows only Californians to apply for CCW licenses,” the judge wrote. “The only historical analogues offered by the State that involve a remotely similar method of burdening Second Amendment conduct, namely, limiting exercise of Second Amendment rights to a state’s own residents, are the 20th century laws in Georgia, Oregon, and West Virginia.”

District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett, a Joe Biden appointee, issued a preliminary injunction nullifying the California law preventing out-of-state residents from applying for a concealed carry permit. The judge could have mandated reciprocity with other states, but she stopped short of ordering that. The judge also ruled that the waiting time was too long and unconstitutional. Many people in the Golden State wait up to 18 months for a concealed carry permit. The State will have to cut the wait times substantially.

Judge Garnett chose not to issue an injunction against the exorbitant fees, the required psychological exam, and the discretionary denials. These issues will have to wait until the judge can rule on the merits of the case. California is expected to appeal the injunction to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and request a stay on the judge’s ruling.

About John Crump

Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.