A major victory has happened for gun owners in California, the frequently liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of gun...
A major victory has happened for gun owners in California, the frequently liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of gun rights advocates.
The court ruled on Friday that California’s 10 round limit on gun magazines is unconstitutional, NBC News 7 reported.
“Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster,” Judge Kenneth Lee, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, said in the majority opinion.
The judge said that the state’s ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds “strikes at the core of the Second Amendment — the right to armed self-defense.”
He said that the law was passed “in the wake of heart-wrenching and highly publicized mass shootings,” but that is not a justification for a law whose scope “is so sweeping that half of all magazines in America are now unlawful to own in California.”
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office said the AG is examining the ruling and that he “remains committed to using every tool possible to defend California’s gun safety laws and keep our communities safe.”
Gun owners cannot immediately rush to buy high-capacity magazines because a stay issued by the lower court judge remains in place.
But Becerra did not say if the state would seek a further delay of Friday’s ruling to prevent an immediate buying spree if the lower court judge ends that restriction. Gun groups estimated that more than a million high-capacity ammunition magazines may have legally flooded into California during a one-week window before the judge stayed his ruling three years ago.
Becerra also did not say if he would ask a larger 11-judge appellate panel to reconsider the ruling by the three judges, or if he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who championed the magazine ban when he was lieutenant governor, defended the law as a vital gun violence prevention measure.
“I think it was sound, I think it was right, and … the overwhelming majority of Californians agreed when they supported a ballot initiative that we put forth,” the governor said.
But that is why the United States is a constitutional republic and not a direct democracy. A majority of people supporting something does not make it constitutional.
California Rifle & Pistol Association attorney Chuck Michel said that the court’s decision is “a huge victory” for those who own guns “and the right to choose to own a firearm to defend your family.”
The decision was celebrated by those who support gun rights on Twitter.
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