Federal Court Strikes Down Sweeping California Gun Control Law
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, saying the law violates the Constitution’s protection of the right to bear firearms.
“Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster,” appellate Judge Kenneth Lee wrote for the panel’s majority.
California’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 bullets “strikes at the core of the Second Amendment — the right to armed self-defense.”
He noted that California passed the law “in the wake of heart-wrenching and highly publicized mass shootings.”
But he said that isn’t enough to justify a ban whose scope “is so sweeping that half of all magazines in America are now unlawful to own in California.”
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra did not immediately say if he would ask the full appellate court to reconsider the ruling, or if he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
He also did not immediately say if the state would seek a delay of the ruling.
Gun sales are currently on hold in California after a stay by the lower court and cannot immediately resume.
California Rifle & Pistol Association attorney Chuck Michel called it “a huge victory” for gun owners “and the right to choose to own a firearm to defend your family,” while a group that favors gun control called it “dangerous” and expects it will be overturned.
The ruling has national implications because other states have similar restrictions, though it immediately applies only to Western states under the appeals court’s jurisdiction.
Gun rights groups have been trying to get such cases before the nation’s high court now that it has a conservative majority.
U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Lynn of Texas, the third judge on the appellate panel, said the majority’s ruling conflicts with decisions in six other federal appellate courts and with a 2015 ruling by a different panel of the 9th Circuit itself.
She said she would have upheld California’s law based on that precedent.
“This ruling is an extreme outlier” given those earlier decisions, according to Eric Tirschwell, managing director for Everytown Law, the litigation team affiliated with pro-gun control organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
“We expect the full court will rehear the case and correct this erroneous, dangerous, and out-of-step decision.”
Friday’s decision upholds a 2017 ruling by San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez, who blocked a new law that would have barred gun owners from possessing magazines holding more than 10 bullets.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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