CA Magazine ban overturned

[GaryS]

I looked back a year and didn't spot a thread on this.

Via the NRA-IRA comes this,

Breaking! Federal Court Finds California Magazine Ban Violates the Second Amendment

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.

A first step, but an important one. No doubt this will be appealed to the Ninth Circus and eventually to SCOTUS.

It's important to note that CA enacted a crippled magazine ban even before the federal ban. That was a reaction to the Cleveland School Shooting in Stockton, CA in 1989.

That case is almost forgotten, but got the ball rolling on magazine bans.

 

[yaktamer]

I've only read snippets of the ruling, but it's a real scorcher. First sentence: "Individual liberty and freedom are not outmoded concepts." (emphasis in original).

 

[jag312]

I'm a refugee from California, but I approve the magazine ban being overturned. Standard capacity magazine bans scare the heck out of me. What California does, the anti-gun loonies in the rest of the country want all over. Some of us own machineguns, and a 10-round magazine in a machinegun just ain't fun.

 

[Whitwabit]

Very important ruling by the court .. “Individual liberty and freedom are not outmoded concepts,” he declared. This maybe the most important sentence in the whole ruling !! And may influence other rulings !!

 

[stansdds]

Very important ruling by the court .. “Individual liberty and freedom are not outmoded concepts,” he declared. This maybe the most important sentence in the whole ruling !! And may influence other rulings !!

As a nation, we can only hope!

 

[federali]

Contradictory Rulings

If another federal district court rules that magazine restrictions do not violate the 2nd Amendment, in contradiction of the case at hand, this would almost guaranty review by the supreme court as the contradictory rulings need to be resolved.

 

[Doug M.]

The first steps in that litigation will be the Circuit Courts of Appeal, which can and do have some odd results.

 

[yaktamer]

If another federal district court rules that magazine restrictions do not violate the 2nd Amendment, in contradiction of the case at hand, this would almost guaranty review by the supreme court as the contradictory rulings need to be resolved.

Not quite. Conflicting District Court (i.e., trial court) rulings do not. Conflicting Circuit (appellate) Court rulings often (but not always) do.

 

[bushmaster1313]

The opinion is here:
https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1510684/2064261_2019-03-29-order-granting-plaintiffs_-msj.pdf

The key language from the opinion:

In Heller, the U.S. Supreme Court provided a simple Second Amendment test in crystal clear language. It is a test that anyone can understand. The right to keep and bear arms is a right enjoyed by law-abiding citizens to have arms that are not unusual “in common use” “for lawful purposes like self-defense.” District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 624 (2008); Heller v. District of Columbia (“Heller II”), 670 F.3d 1244, 1271 (2011) (Kavanaugh, J., dissenting) (“In my view, Heller and McDonald leave little doubt that courts are to assess gun bans and regulations based on text, history, and tradition, not by a balancing test such as strict or intermediate scrutiny.”). It is a hardware test. Is the firearm hardware commonly owned? Is the hardware commonly owned by law-abiding citizens? Is the hardware owned by those citizens for lawful purposes? If the answers are “yes,” the test is over. The hardware is protected.

 

[kscharlie]

The opinion is here:
https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1510684/2064261_2019-03-29-order-granting-plaintiffs_-msj.pdf

The key language from the opinion:

WOW!!! and WOW!!!

I have only read through page 7 of the 86 page opinion. I have never seen such thorough research and factual reasoning in a legal opinion, and I have barely started. Judge Benitez has done a masterful job and this opinion should be required reading for all.

 

[bushmaster1313]

I must admit that before reading the language quoted above I was on the fence as to whether the 2A protects magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. But the language from Heller is clear, if the weapon is not unusual it cannot be banned.

One takeaway is that every supporter of the 2A should consider it a personal civic duty to lawfully possess a semiautomatic rifle capable of accepting a removable magazine, thereby helping to ensure that such arms will be considered usual and in common use for lawful purposes.

 

[vt_shooter]

The 9th will reverse that.

 

[stansdds]

The 9th will reverse that.

That is pretty much guaranteed, hopefully the SCOTUS will hear the case and overrule the 9th. They usually do overturn decisions made by the 9th circus.

 

[Univibe]

The 9th will reverse that.

Maybe not. 9th ruled in Hawaii vs Young that there is an individual right to open carry.

 

[yaktamer]

The 9th will reverse that.

Not necessarily. These days it depends on the panel (I know, it shouldn't). Of course, either way there's a chance of en banc review.

 

[yaktamer]

Got a kick out of the quote from Ted Kennedy in the Bork hearing. Who says federal judges don't have a sense of humor?

 

[Muss Muggins]

The Supreme Court reverses most of the cases it actually hears from every Circuit . . .

Does the Ninth Circuit Have the Highest Reversal Rate in the Country? - The New York Times

That is pretty much guaranteed, hopefully the SCOTUS will hear the case and overrule the 9th. They usually do overturn decisions made by the 9th circus.

 

[Doug M.]

Considering that the 9th allowed the stay of enforcement pending the litigation, it is not utterly certain that it will be reversed. That said, we should all plan on donating to the litigation as it will be expensive and likely to reach SCOTUS either way.

 

[Valmet]

Time will tell how this holds up to appeals but I was very pleased to hear about this yesterday.

 

[kscharlie]

Got a kick out of the quote from Ted Kennedy in the Bork hearing. Who says federal judges don't have a sense of humor?

That was the first thing I pointed out to my wife. I explained to her how ironic it was to use a Ted Kennedy quote as the opening statement in a 2nd Amendment case. Bet it made 'ole Ted roll over in his grave.

There were a number of statements throughout the opinion that showed both the Judge's sense of humor and obvious sarcasm. He certainly did a good job of ripping the California AG a new one!