Ninth Circuit Panel Ruling Holds California Magazine Ban Unconstitutional

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Direct from the FPC (Firearms Policy Coalition) Website

View the Order here.

Sacramento, CA (August 14, 2020) — Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held California’s “large-capacity magazine” ban unconstitutional in Duncan v. Becerra, in which Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and Firearms Policy Foundation (FPF) filed an important brief, authored by FPC’s Director of Research Joseph Greenlee. The brief was joined by the California Gun Rights Foundation (CGF), Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Armed Equality (AE), San Diego County Gun Owners (SDCGO), Orange County Gun Owners (OCGO), Riverside County Gun Owners (RCGO), and California County Gun Owners (CCGO). It is available online at FPCLegal.org.

The court spent several pages of its analysis considering whether the magazines are “dangerous and unusual,” an issue argued only in the FPC/FPF brief. In addition to finding that the “large-capacity magazines” are commonly used for lawful purposes, and thus necessarily not “dangerous and unusual,” the court engaged in a historical analysis, finding that “[f]irearms with greater than ten round capacities existed even before our nation’s founding, and the common use of LCMs for self-defense is apparent in our shared national history.”

“We couldn’t be more pleased that Californians will soon be able to select the arms they’re most comfortable with to defend themselves and their families,” said Joseph Greenlee, FPC’s Director of Research.

“We are thrilled to see a well reasoned opinion that protects Second Amendment rights coming out of the Ninth Circuit,” stated Adam Kraut, FPC’s Director of Legal Strategy. “All too often judges apply their policy preferences rather than look at the text of the Constitution itself. Millions of Californians will soon be able to defend their hearth and home without having to handicap their ability to do so by using a magazine arbitrarily limited to holding a mere ten rounds of ammunition.”  

Related Article from FPC Here

Check out more from FPC.

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