A gun-goods store in Arizona.
A coalition of 22 state attorneys general is calling on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule against California’s attempt to ban the carrying of high-capacity magazines.
“Once again, California politicians are challenged by the conviction that their agenda should trump the constitutional rights of the people,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement.
“Attempts to undermine the Second Amendment or to destroy any of our civil rights and freedoms should be strongly discredited and opposed.” Bronovich said.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who is leading the legal prosecution with Bronovich, said in a statement that “radical left-wing lawmakers in California and elsewhere” are trying to “legislatively override the rights afforded to us by the Constitution “
California banned “high-capacity” magazines that can hold 10 or more bullets in 2016. A federal judge later ruled the move unconstitutional, and then a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit upheld the judge’s ruling. In February, an 11-member panel of the 9th Circuit agreed to rehear the case.
“High-capacity magazines have been used in many horrific mass shootings across the country, including in California,” then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said after the court agreed to rehear the case in February, “which is why today the Ninth Circuit’s decision to reopen this case is critical and is the next step in defending our state’s common-sense gun laws.”
The attorney general’s office then said the high-capacity magazines “have been used in many horrific mass shootings across the country, including the tragic Borderline Bar and Grill shooting in Thousand Oaks in 2018 and the 2015 Inland in Bernardino Regional Center in Bernardino in 2015.” California banned the manufacture of such magazines in 2000.
But in the brief for the lawsuit, the states argue that the right to bear arms protects people in high-crime or disadvantaged areas where law enforcement may not be able to respond in a timely manner.
“California should not be allowed to violate the constitutional rights of its own citizens, nor should this court undermine the civil rights of this circuit and other states through its analysis,” the brief says. They ultimately argued that California’s law violates the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
This comes after President Joe Biden (D-N.Y.) and top congressional Democrats said more action is needed on gun control, including a federal ban on the possession of magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition following last month’s shootings in Atlanta and Colorado.
Biden also sought a ban on so-called assault weapons and told reporters at the White House that when he was a senator, he was able to pass gun control measures, including the 1994 federal Assault Weapons Ban, which expires in 10 years. “The term “assault weapons” has come under fire from gun rights groups, who say the term is deliberately vague, while noting that states have their own definitions and requirements for “assault weapons.
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