BELLEVUE, WA — The Second Amendment Foundation is cheering Friday’s 71-page ruling by a federal district court judge striking down, for the second time, California’s ban on so-called “high-capacity magazines,” and suggests this will affect similar bans in other states.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez handed down the 71-page ruling, noting in his decision, “Removable firearm magazines of all sizes are necessary components of semiautomatic firearms. Therefore, magazines come within the text of the constitutional declaration that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Because millions of removable firearm magazines able to hold between 10 and 30 rounds are commonly owned by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, including self-defense, and because they are reasonably related to service in the militia, the magazines are presumptively within the protection of the Second Amendment. There is no American history or tradition of regulating firearms based on the number of rounds they can shoot, or of regulating the amount of ammunition that can be kept and carried.”
“We are delighted with this ruling,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The decision affects Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s defense against a lawsuit challenging a similar ban in his state, which is also in the Ninth Circuit, as well as bans in other states. Ultimately, we expect this issue will have to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.”
As explained by Judge Benitez, “Because the State did not succeed in justifying its sweeping ban and dispossession mandate with a relevantly similar historical analogue, California Penal Code § 32310, as amended by Proposition 63, is hereby declared to be unconstitutional in its entirety and shall be enjoined.”
“This is the second time California has tried to defend this ban,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “and the second time Judge Benitez has ruled against the statute. California clearly does not get the message about the Second Amendment.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
