After the Supreme Court upheld the right to bear arms two years ago, several states responded by making concealed-carry permits easier to obtain but much harder to use, banning guns from long lists of "sensitive places." California Gov. Gavin Newsom, one of the politicians who embraced that strategy, portrayed it as justified resistance to a "very bad ruling."
Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which is not known for its friendliness to Second Amendment rights, dealt a blow to that end run by partly upholding two preliminary injunctions against location-specific gun bans in California and Hawaii, including prohibitions on guns in places of worship, banks, public transit, medical facilities, and certain parking lots. At the same time, the appeals court upheld several broad provisions that make it a crime to carry guns in parks, playgrounds, "places of amusement," and bars or restaurants that serve alcohol, along with Hawaii's default rule against guns in businesses open to the public.
