Attorneys general from 25 states filed an amicus brief on Thursday. The brief opposes California’s ban on magazines with more than ten ammunition rounds. Led by Republican Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, the attorneys advocated to support a San Diego judge’s decision blocking the ban from taking effect.
“The district court properly concluded that California’s law unconstitutionally restricts the fundamental right to keep and bear common firearm magazines typically possessed for lawful purposes,” Knudsen and the other attorneys general wrote.
Last month, a coalition of over a dozen attorneys general, led by Democrat Letitia James of New York, signed onto an amicus brief supporting the ban in California.
They argued that the ban is a constitutionally permissible restriction and should be able to take effect. “Large-capacity magazines make weapons even more deadly and can lead to horrific mass-casualty events,” James said.
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“These dangerous accessories are intended to ensure the maximum number of bullets can be fired without the shooter needing to take time to reload. The pain, suffering, and loss of life that can be inflicted by a single shooter utilizing large-capacity magazines is horrific, which is why these dangerous accessories have no place in our communities.”
California’s ban on high-capacity magazines, enacted through a 2016 proposition, has faced extended legal challenges. The case reached the Supreme Court but was subsequently returned to lower courts.
This was following the June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In September, District Judge Roger Benitez in San Diego declared California’s ban on magazines holding more than ten bullets unconstitutional under the Second Amendment.
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Benitez referenced a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that emphasizes restrictions must align with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. California Attorney General Rob Bonta appealed the ruling.
In October, the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted the state’s request to keep portions of the ban on large-capacity magazines in place. Benitez once again ruled that the ban was unconstitutional, stating it had no historical precedent and violated people’s Second Amendment rights.
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“In the United States, with its long tradition of gun ownership, there are no historical laws prohibiting simple possession of any type of firearm until long after the 1868 adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Benitez wrote in a 79-page decision on Oct. 19. “That is too late.”
“The State has identified no national tradition of firearm regulation so broad in its coverage or so far-reaching in its effect as its extreme ‘assault weapon’ statutes,” Benitez added. An appeals court has ruled that the state’s bans will remain in effect while Bonta appeals the lower court’s decision.
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