California Bans Open Carry of Handguns

California became the fifth state to prohibit openly carrying handguns in public after Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday that he had signed the ban into law late Sunday night amid heavy opposition from gun enthusiasts.

AB144 by state Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena, makes it a misdemeanor to carry an exposed and unloaded gun in public or in vehicles, with violators facing up to a year in prison or a potential fine of $1,000 when the law takes effect on Jan 1.

The bill exempts hunting and shooting events and does not apply to those who are given permits to carry a concealed weapon by law enforcement authorities. The Blaze reported in early September on the bill's passage in the California State Senate.

Portantino said the bill is an opportunity to prevent tragedy before it happens.

"It's not if somebody is going be shot, it's when somebody is going to be shot," he said. "We have the opportunity to avoid that, and that's why this is so critical."

He said law enforcement officials have been concerned about the proliferation of guns in public and the tense situations that arise when someone sees another person carrying a firearm in public. He said the encounters can escalate quickly because others don't know whether the gun is loaded or unloaded.

"Main Street California is not the Old West, and you don't need a gun to buy a cheeseburger," Portantino said. Top California law enforcement groups, including the California Police Chiefs Association and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, supported the legislation.

"By prohibiting the open carry of guns, we can now take our families to the park or out to eat without the worry of getting shot by some untrained, unscreened, self-appointed vigilante," Dallas Stout, president of the California chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement.

Gun owners protested the legislation in April when they began carrying unloaded handguns in public places and restaurants as a political statement in Pasadena. The Blaze previously reported on footage of an calm encounter between Oceanside Police and an open carry advocate released in November 2010:

The Brady Campaign, which sponsored the legislation, said California joins Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas as the only states to ban the open carry of handguns. It said 33 states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Louisiana and Colorado, do no prohibit open carry. Twelve states, including South Carolina, Tennessee, Minnesota and Massachusetts require permits for open carry.

Gun advocates and most Republican lawmakers have criticized the law, saying it targets law-abiding citizens. State Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia, said Brown sent the message that he has no respect for the Constitution.

"There are risks to living in a free state, and for the governor to take away and chisel away at the Second Amendment right when he claimed to respect it, it just kind of shows his true colors," Donnelly said.

"It's really a form of tyranny," he said of the ban.

In addition to the ban on open-carry handguns, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Brown signed into law a bill that will require that the information from purchasers of long guns, such as rifles and shotguns, be retained by the state Department of Justice in the same way information about handgun purchasers is retained.

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said sheriff's departments in most major cities in California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, make it difficult for citizens to get concealed carry permits.

C.D. Michel, a civil rights attorney for the National Rifle Association, said the group has a lawsuit challenging the concealed carry licensing system in San Diego. He said the federal judge in the case ruled the system wasn't a violation of the Second Amendment because residents still had the option of unloaded open carry.

"This strengthens our lawsuit because that option has been eliminated," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.