Once you can legally openly carry without a license in California it is likely that legislators will be under increased pressure to loosen concealed carry restrictions since they will not constituents to vote against them.
Not my desired outcome but I was well aware of that as a possible outcome when I considered the ramifications of my lawsuit being successful before I filed my lawsuit.
A clarification, one does not require a license to openly carry a firearm anywhere in the state. It is concealed carry (loaded or unloaded) which requires a license, except for a couple of narrow exceptions which are in turn useless as the California Gun-Free School Act of 1995 requires that handguns be carried unloaded and in a fully enclosed lock container when coming within 1,000 feet of a K-12 public or private school and so even if one were to carry a concealed handgun pursuant to one of the narrow exceptions, he would most likely find himself in violation of the California GFSZ and a conviction for that entails a ten year prohibition on being able to even possess a firearm.
In order to appreciate just how ubiquitous school zones are, take a look at this San Francisco school zone map -> http://sf-planning.o...000-feet-school
Handguns, antique and modern, fall within the GFSZ prohibition. The California GFSZ exempts long guns (modern and antique). The only two laws which are limited exclusively to Open Carry are the two somewhat recent bans on openly carrying modern, unloaded firearms. As to unloaded handguns
California Penal Code section 26350. (a) (1) A person is guilty of openly carrying an unloaded
handgun when that person carries upon his or her person an exposed
and unloaded handgun outside a vehicle while in or on any of the
following:
(A) A public place or public street in an incorporated city or
city and county.
(

A public street in a prohibited area of an unincorporated area
of a county or city and county.
© A public place in a prohibited area of a county or city and
county.
(2) A person is guilty of openly carrying an unloaded handgun when
that person carries an exposed and unloaded handgun inside or on a
vehicle, whether or not on his or her person, while in or on any of
the following:
(A) A public place or public street in an incorporated city or
city and county.
(

A public street in a prohibited area of an unincorporated area
of a county or city and county.
© A public place in a prohibited area of a county or city and
county.
<snip>
As to unloaded long guns, its prohibition is not as wide:
California Penal Code section 26400. (a) A person is guilty of carrying an unloaded firearm that
is not a handgun in an incorporated city or city and county when that
person carries upon his or her person an unloaded firearm that is
not a handgun outside a vehicle while in the incorporated city or
city and county.
And both Unloaded Open Carry bans exempt antique firearms as defined by Federal law.
In short (I know, too late) although California law provides for the issuance of licenses to openly carry loaded handguns, one does not need a license to openly carry a loaded firearm where the prohibition on carrying a loaded firearm (openly or concealed) does not apply:
As to loaded firearms:
California Penal Code section 25850. (a) A person is guilty of carrying a loaded firearm when the
person carries a loaded firearm on the person or in a vehicle while
in any public place or on any public street in an incorporated city
or in any public place or on any public street in a prohibited area
of unincorporated territory.
"Prohibited area" is defined separately in the penal code as an area where the discharge of a firearm is prohibited.
*m Smiley's were automatically substituted for some of the subsections. I won't be fixing them as the California Penal code is available online and for free.