A firearms advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit against California’s attorney general in an effort to challenge a state law that is “unconstitutionally restrictive” and offers no avenue for out-of-state residents in California to carry firearms in public.
The Firearms Policy Coalition, a Sacramento-based nonprofit group, filed the complaint on April 11 in the Southern District of California in San Diego. The plaintiffs – the coalition and three of its members – say California laws prohibiting the carrying of firearms either openly or concealed violate the Second and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The individuals listed as plaintiffs, who are not state residents, also argue that the state’s firearms policies violate the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV of the Constitution.
“Individuals like (the) plaintiffs do not lose protection of their rights under the First Amendment’s speech or religion clauses when they cross state lines,” the complaint states. “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.”
California’s firearms-carry licensing regime offers no avenue for nonresidents to obtain such a permit because it requires the applicant to list a residence or place of business within a county or permitting jurisdiction, according to the lawsuit.
“This court should enter a judgment that declares California’s non-resident carry ban unconstitutional and enjoins (the) defendant (and all those under defendant’s supervision, including sheriffs) from enforcing the residency requirement for carry applications with respect to otherwise qualified individuals who are not California residents,” the complaint states.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office indicated that it would defend the state’s current firearms law.
“We will review the complaint,” the Attorney General’s Office said in a statement emailed to the Southern California Record. “We are committed to defending California’s common-sense firearm laws – these laws save lives and protect public safety and our communities.”
But the coalition’s counsel, Cody Wisniewski, stressed that the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution – and affirmed in the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen – must be applied consistently in all the states.
“California’s ban on firearm carry by nonresidents is blatantly unconstitutional,” Wisniewski said in a statement. “Whether California likes it or not, the United States Constitution requires the state to allow nonresidents the ability to exercise their natural, fundamental right to bear arms. We again look forward to reminding California that it is not above the Constitution.”
The lawsuit emphasizes that the individual plaintiffs are law-abiding out-of-state residents who simply want to exercise their right to bear arms in public while visiting the Golden State.
Plaintiffs are asking the federal court for a judgment that the state laws in question are unconstitutional under the Bill of Rights and Article IV, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, which says citizens of all states are entitled to the “privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states.”
They also want the court to issue a permanent injunction barring the attorney general, his agents or other law enforcement officials who participate in the licensing process from enforcing the residency requirements against those who apply for licenses to carry concealed weapons.