The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a California ban on openly carrying firearms violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, giving gun owners a major win in the deep blue state.

In a 2-1 ruling, the appeals court partially sided with a California gun owner Mark Baird, who sued over California’s ban on openly carrying a firearm in counties with more than 200,000 residents. The law, which went into effect as an “urban open-carry ban,” effectively prohibited around 95% of California’s population from carrying a gun in public.

U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, said in the ruling that “historical record makes unmistakably plain that open carry is part of this Nation’s history and tradition.”

“It was clearly protected at the time of the Founding and at the time of the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. There is no record of any law restricting open carry at the Founding, let alone a distinctly similar historical regulation,” the judge stated. “California’s failure to satisfy its burden to present evidence of a relevant historical tradition of firearm regulation is dispositive with respect to California’s urban open-carry ban.”

The open-carry ban was defended by California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has pushed for gun control at the state and federal levels.

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In the ruling, VanDyke also said that California’s open-carry ban could not stand under the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2022 in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v Bruen, which found that Americans have the right to carry firearms in public. The judge also noted how most U.S. states generally allow for open carry, a list that included California until the state enacted its urban open carry ban in 2012.

“In doing so, California joined a tiny minority of states to have adopted such severe restrictions on open carry. In fact, California is the only state in the Ninth Circuit that has entirely banned open carry for the overwhelming majority of its citizens,” VanDyke wrote.

VanDyke was joined by Kenneth Lee, another Trump-appointed judge, in ruling against the California law. The three-judge panel ruled against Baird’s challenge of licensing requirements in counties with fewer than 200,000 residents.

Friday’s ruling comes after a 2023 decision from a district court judge who rejected a legal challenge to California’s open carry ban. Senior U.S. Circuit Judge N. Randy Smith, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, dissented in part, arguing that the appeals court “should have affirmed the district court.”

The Duffer brothers, creators of the hit Netflix series “Stranger Things,” have addressed the backlash to a main character’s coming out scene.

“The coming out scene is something we’ve been building to for nine years now. It was a really important scene for us, and a really important scene for [actor Noah Schnapp] — not just from a thematic point of view, but also a narrative point of view,” Ross Duffer told Variety in an interview published Thursday.

He added, “This show has always been about our characters overcoming evil, and in order to overcome this evil, Vecna, in so many ways, represents all the dark thoughts and the evil of society. And for our characters to overcome that, it really becomes about embracing themselves, and then also embracing one another and coming together.”

Fans were disappointed by the penultimate episode of the series, giving it the lowest rating out of all episodes and trashing it on social media, as The Daily Wire previously reported.

“Woke ruins EVERYTHING,” one X reaction said. “Netflix decided to RUIN their most popular show of all-time, Stranger Things, by focusing their final season on Will coming out as a homosexual, promoting the propaganda that Will’s superpowers are because he’s ’embraced his sexuality’ & the villain telling Will that his friends won’t like him if they find out he likes dudes.”

The Duffer brothers insist that Will’s coming out was an essential part of the show.

Matt Duffer called it “the final step in Will’s journey” and noted he was “surprised” by the backlash since he insists the show has been building up to this all along.

“Volume 1 is really about self-acceptance, right? I mean, that’s sort of step one,” he said. “And then step two is Will is talking to Robin — it’s something that he wants to do. He’s trying to figure out how to come out, and he knows that he needs to do that, and that that’s the final step for him. And he finds the courage to be able to do it. And it’s really the ultimate f*** you to Vecna. That was the intention.”

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“We’re proud of the episode, and we’re proud of the scene, and proud of Noah, who gave a really brave, very vulnerable performance,” Ross told the outlet.

Schnapp had an emotional reaction to the scene he revealed during an interview with Netflix’s Tudum.

“I was really nervous to see how [the Duffer Brothers] would write it, because it was obviously so important for me. And I remember when they sent out the script for Episode 7 for that scene. I read it alone in my room, and I was crying, and it really resonated with me,” the actor said of his character coming out.

“I hope it touches everyone — not just queer people — and makes them feel emboldened and empowered to be who they are and be proud of who they are,” he told Tudum. “That goes back to the heart of our show: What makes you unique is your superpower.”