Bill To Ban 'Open Carry' Guns Before Governor

A proposed law that would make it illegal to openly carry unloaded handguns in public is awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown's signature. 

Introduced by California’s 44th District Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), who represents Eagle Rock, Highland Park, La Cañada Flintridge, South Pasadena, Altadena and parts of Monrovia and Arcadia in the state Assembly, is intended to target the "open carry movement” that calls for people protesting gun control laws to gather in public and display their firearms.

A similar measure introduced by former Assemblymember Lori Saldaña in 2010 died in the final moments of last year's session because of technical wrangling. 

AB 144 cleared the Senate Thursday and passed the lower house Friday, with a vote of 44-30, said Portantino spokesperson Wendy Gordon.

“This law will safeguard families confronted by pistol-packing gun enthusiasts and will shield law enforcement personnel from tense situations [in which] they don’t know if the gun is loaded or unloaded,'' Portantino said in a prepared statement.

In Thursday's Sacramento Bee, Sen. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale), criticized the measure for "further narrowing peoples' Second Amendment rights."

LaMalfa added that open carry "isn't a problem for anybody except for the gun grabbers [who] continually chip away and narrow our basic rights."

AB 144 makes it a crime to openly carry an unloaded handgun in public places. Violations will now be a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. Exemptions include law enforcement personnel, hunters and gatherings such as military events and gun shows.

California currently allows gun owners the right to display weapons, which must be unloaded. Carrying loaded firearms in public is already against the law in California.

“The open display of firearms in crowded public places creates very real public safety issues—both for the public and for police officers,” San Mateo Police Chief Susan Manheimer, past-president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said in a prepared statement. “This is a good-sense public safety bill and we are hoping Gov. Brown signs it into law.”

The governor now has 30 days to sign the bill into law.

Correction: The sub-heading of the previous version of this story mistakenly said that Assemblymember Anthony Portantino tried for the second time to make it unlawful for most people to publicly carry unloaded handguns. It wasn't Portantino's second attempt but the Assembly's.