California Bans Carrying Guns Openly in Public

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill banning the open carrying of handguns in public, he announced today. Police had opposed existing rules allowing Californians to carry unloaded guns openly, saying the practice scared onlookers, Politico reports. "As law enforcement officials tell me, it’s not safe and someone is going to get hurt," said the assemblyman who introduced the bill. Added Brown: "I listened to the California police chiefs."

"California families will now be able to take their families to the park or out to eat without the worry of getting shot by some untrained, unscreened, self-appointed vigilante," a Brady Campaign activist tells the Los Angeles Times. The measure is one of many bills that Brown has addressed in recent days—including California's DREAM Act and one that bars minors from using tanning beds. He signed bills requiring health insurers to cover autism and giving kids 12 and up the right to get anti-STD health care without their parents' consent; but Brown vetoed a bill to legalize industrial hemp production in four counties. The Times has more. (More Jerry Brown stories.)