THE 9TH CIRCUIT COURT of Appeals on Friday August 14, 2020 threw out a California law banning high-capacity ammunition magazines, ruling that the measure violates citizens’ constitutionally protected right to bear arms. The ban barred citizens from owning “large capacity magazines” that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.
“Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster,” appellate Judge Kenneth Lee wrote for the panel’s majority. California’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 bullets “strikes at the core of the Second Amendment — the right to armed self-defense.” The ruling on this Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case #19-55376 was a split 2-1 decision, with Chief U.S District Court Judge Barbara Lynn, the third judge on the appellate panel, dissenting.
The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs challenging California Government Code § 31310, which bans possession of large capacity magazines (“LCMs”) that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition; and held that the ban violated the Second Amendment.
