Appeals court rules California's magazine ban unconstitutional.

A 30 round AR-magazine along with a 10 round clip. Own work. 

A three judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of appeals have ruled that California's ban on rifle and handgun magazines that can carry more than 10 rounds is unconstitutional. USA Today. The judges noted that the law violated the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution that protects the right to keep and bear arms. They also noted that mass shootings are not enough of a justification for a law that effectively bans half of all magazines sold in America. It is unclear if California will appeal the decision to the full 11 judge panel or even to the Supreme Court. The ruling will only be for the 9th district but could end up with a case reaching the Supreme Court. Until a decision is made on appeals, magazine sales will remain banned.  

My Comment:

This is a huge victory for gun rights. It's important to note that this ruling goes further than the original ruling from Judge Rodger Benitez, who only ruled on a new law on banning possession magazines that can hold 10 or more rounds. It ruled that California's existing law on magazines, which prevents sales and imports was also unconstitutional. It's more than we were expecting to say the least.

I think that the courts arguments are sound. The standard for a long time for gun ownership is common use. Under that standard everyone's AR is fine but something like an RPG or a sawed off shotgun might not be. Well "high capacity" magazines are so standard that I call them standard capacity magazines. 

For example, for my AR I own a total of 12 30-round magazines and that is generally considered "rookie numbers". And for my handgun I own two 16 rounders. Most people own way more magazines than I do and there really isn't a major reason to own smaller capacity magazines (though there is an argument to be made for 20 rounders in AR as that allows the gun to be fired more easily from a prone position). To argue that "high capacity" magazines aren't in common use is pretty ridiculous. Though I don't have the sales data to back it up, I am guessing that the most popular magazine by far is a 30 round AR mag. Hell, just the Magpul P-mag might be enough to outsell all other non-AR mags just by itself!

The real question is what happens now. If California decides they have wasted enough money on this and just lets the ruling stand then we are going to see a run on 30 round magazines nationwide. When the original ruling hit back in 2017 there was a huge run that ended up depleting the stocks of 30 round magazines pretty much nationwide and kept going until the judge ruled that the ban on sales could stay in place until the case worked its way through the courts. Though the 2nd round probably won't be as bad as the first it could still deplete stocks for an industry that already can't keep product on the shelves (due to the triple threat of the Coronavirus outbreak, the George Floyd riots and the fear of a possible Joe Biden/Kamala Harris presidency).

More likely though is that California will appeal this further. It could go to the full 11 judge panel in the 9th Circuit Court. In the past this would have been the death penalty for basically any conservative cause as the court was seen as incredibly liberal. But President Trump, in one of his major unsung accomplishments, has largely flipped the court so a good ruling there is not only possible it's likely. 

The other major option is to appeal it to the Supreme Court. This actually worries me a lot more than the 9th Circuit, as sad as it is to say. Though conservatives ostensibly control the court with a 5-4 majority, Chief Justice Roberts has emerged as a swing vote at best and another liberal at worst. It's because of him that the court didn't consider many new gun rights cases that could have been considered this year. With Roberts on the bench there is no guarantee that the Court would protect gun rights if the case reaches them. 

Still, it's important to note that this is a huge victory for gun rights regardless. California has been a bastion for these awful laws and it's good to see them losing in court, even if the victory isn't total. My hope is that they will realize that it's just not worth it anymore to keep pushing these insane laws and that if they do their laws will be overturned on appeal. And hopefully someday soon the people of California will get their rights fully restored.