Breaking! Federal
Court Finds California Magazine Ban Violates the Second Amendment
NRA-ILA
Friday, March 29, 2019
In one of the strongest judicial statements in favor of the
Second Amendment to date, Judge Roger T. Benitez of the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of California determined on Friday that California’s ban
on commonly possessed firearm magazines violates the Second Amendment.
The case is Duncan v. Becerra.
The NRA-supported case had already been up to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on the question of whether the law’s
enforcement should be suspended during proceedings on its constitutionality.
Last July, a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld Judge Benitez’s
suspension of enforcement and sent the case back to him for further
proceedings on the merits of the law itself.
Judge Benitez rendered his opinion late Friday afternoon
and handed Second Amendment supporters a sweeping victory by completely
invalidating California’s 10-round limit on magazine capacity. “Individual
liberty and freedom are not outmoded concepts,” he declared.
In a scholarly and comprehensive opinion, Judge
Benitez subjected the ban both to the constitutional analysis he argued was
required by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller and a more
complicated and flexible test the Ninth Circuit has applied in prior Second
Amendment cases.
Either way, Judge Benitez ruled, the law would fail.
Indeed, he characterized the California law as “turning the Constitution upside
down.” He also systematically dismantled each of the state’s purported
justifications for the law, demonstrating the factual and legal inconsistencies
of their claims.
NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox hailed the
decision as a “huge win for gun owners” and a “landmark recognition of what
courts have too often treated as a disfavored right.”
“Judge Benitez took the Second Amendment seriously and
came to the conclusion required by the Constitution,” Cox said. “The same
should be true of any court analyzing a ban on a class of arms law-abiding
Americans commonly possess for self-defense or other lawful purposes.”
Unfortunately, Friday’s opinion is not likely to be the
last word on the case. The state will likely appeal to the Ninth Circuit, which
has proven notably hostile to the Second Amendment in past decisions.
Nevertheless, the thoroughness of Judge Benitez’s
analysis should give Second Amendment supporters the best possible chance for
success in appellate proceedings, particularly if the case ultimately lands
before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In the meantime, Friday’s order prohibits California from
enforcing its magazine restrictions, leaving its law-abiding residents safer
and freer, at least for the time being.
To stay up-to-date on the Duncan case and other important
Second Amendment issues affecting California gun owners, visit https://www.nraila.org/campaigns/california/stand-and-fight-california/.
And be sure to subscribe to NRA-ILA and CRPA email alerts by visiting https://www.nraila.org/sign-up and www.crpa.org.
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