The Second Amendment Foundation is celebrating a small but significant victory after the community of Los Gatos, in Santa Clara County, decided to suspend enforcement of an ordinance adopted earlier this year establishing several new “sensitive areas” where legal concealed carry is prohibited.
Enforcement of the ordinance was put “on hold” after the law firm of Michel & Associates warned the city it would be sued on constitutional grounds if the new law was enforced. The law firm is representing SAF and the California Rifle & Pistol Association in this effort.
“According to published reports,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “the town is waiting to see whether litigation against pending state legislation is resolved. That’s fine with us because it means this restrictive ordinance will not be enforced.”
Designating areas as “sensitive places” where lawful concealed carry is prohibited is a strategy by gun prohibitionists to get around new guidelines set down in the 2022 Bruen ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding concealed carry in public.
“We are already challenging similar restrictions in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois, and elsewhere in California,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Such regulations are clearly designed to circumvent the Supreme Court’s edict and we will oppose them wherever they appear. State and municipal governments cannot be allowed to flagrantly thumb their noses at the high court, no matter how much they dislike the right to bear arms.”
The ordinance was to have taken effect Sept. 1, 2023, but with the threat of litigation, there will be no enforcement of the sensitive areas prohibition at certain locations, including some town property, places of worship, and on public transportation. Gottlieb and Kraut consider this an important “first step” in the effort to stop these expansive interpretations of what constitutes a “sensitive place.”
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing, and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.n
