California law bars non-residents from carrying a gun. Does that violate the Second Amendment?
Gun rights group the Firearms Policy Coalition is suing the state of California in federal court, arguing that a state law banning out-of-state residents from carrying guns in-state violates the Second Amendment.
“State law generally prohibits individuals from carrying firearms either openly or concealed in public, and non-residents are not eligible for a license to carry a firearm in public. Indeed, California’s unconstitutionally restrictive scheme provides no path for non-residents to carry a firearm lawfully in public at all,” the coalition argued in its complaint.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
A lawsuit complaint represents one side of the story. The Bee reached out to the California Attorney General’s Office, which is charged with defending the law, for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three non-California residents — Christopher J. Hoffman of Pennsylvania, Chad Orrin of Idaho, and Jennifer Sensiba of New Mexico — who are licensed in their home states to carry firearms.
Both Hoffman and Orrin are former California residents, according to the complaint.
“Individuals like (Hoffman, Orrin and Sensiba) do not lose protection of their rights under the First Amendment’s speech or religion clauses when they cross state lines. Nor do they lose their protections under the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. They likewise do not surrender their Second Amendment protected rights when they travel outside their home state,” the complaint reads.
While California offers concealed-carry licensing to residents, non-residents are ineligible. The law requires that an applicant live in the state for a two-year license or have a principle place of business or employment in the state if applying for a 90-day limited license.
“As a result, California law provides no path for non-residents to obtain the license necessary to exercise their constitutionally protected right to bear arms in public for lawful purposes without running afoul of the state’s broad statutory scheme that works a total ban on carry generally,” the complaint reads.
