California Assembly Passes Bill Criminalizing "Open Carry"

Monday was a busy day for the California State Assembly. In addition to approving one assault on California's taxpayers and another on its agriculture economy, they also approved Assemblyman Anthony Portantino's bill making "open carry" of handguns a criminal offense. Open carry is the practice of openly displaying unloaded firearms; in other words, a peaceful display of civil liberties protected by the Second Amendment. As such, it shouldn't be a surprise that California Democrats want to ban it. Portantino's bill would "make it a misdemeanor to display an unloaded handgun in a public place or on a public street in a city or in prohibited areas of unincorporated county land," one carrying a maximum penalty of $1,000 and six months in jail. It contains a number of exceptions; interestingly, open carry of rifles isn't affected.

AB 144 now heads to the Senate. For his part, Gov. Brown hasn't announced a position. In our eyes, of course, the bill is less about public safety and more about further stigmatizing gun ownership in California.