U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- In 2021, the Washington State legislature passed a ban on future sales or manufacturing of magazines, or other feeding devices which hold over 10 rounds. It does not include .22 rimfire tubular magazines. From the law:
(36)”Large capacity magazine” means an ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or any conversion kit, part, or combination of parts, from which such a device can be assembled if those parts are in possession of or under the control of the same person, but shall not be construed to include any of the following:
The Washington State magazine ban is being challenged in the courts. One of the prime movers in the case is the Second Amendment Foundation.
The trial judge for the Federal District Court has scheduled an eight day bench trial to start on December 4, 2023.
As mentioned in a previous article on AmmoLand, the magazine ban has been a strategy used by those pushing for a disarmed society since Bill Ruger brought forward the idea in 1989.
Ruger, the company, paid a heavy price as millions of irate Second Amendment supporters shunned their products. The company actively changed its stance on the issue. Ruger products have since been accepted by most Second Amendment supporters, especially after Bill Ruger died.
A few states have passed magazine bans.
Some appeals circuits have upheld them under the discredited “two step” procedure used by lower courts as a work around to the Heller decision.
On June 22, 2022, the Supreme Court, in the Bruen decision, decisively chided the lower courts for relegating the Second Amendment to second class status.
A few days later, the Supreme Court granted writs of certiorari to four cases, vacated the rulings on those cases, and sent them back to the lower courts to be reheard, taking the clear guidance of Bruen into account.
Two of those cases were magazine bans.
The message is clear: magazine bans are a direct infringement on the right to keep and bear arms as protected by the Second Amendment.
One of those cases was returned to the Ninth Circuit, where it is being heard by Judge Roger T. Benitez in California.
Washington State is in the Ninth Circuit.
There is a good possibility the ban will be found to be unconstitutional in the Ninth Circuit before the trial on the Washington state ban begins on December 4th, 2023. If that occurs, the Washington state trial would almost certainly be rendered moot.
Judge Benitez already issued an opinion showing the magazine ban to be unconstitutional. It seems unlikely there will be any substantial new evidence to change that opinion. Judge Benitez, in his previous opinion, already showed the ban was unconstitutional under the Heller decision.
The Bruen decision simply restated and amplified the Heller decision. It eliminated the “two-step” method the lower courts had devised. The Bruen decision clarified and emphasized the requirement for US governments to prove statutes that infringe on Second Amendment protected rights are consistent with the historical tradition of firearms regulation. If no historical tradition can be shown by the government, the law is prohibited by the Second Amendment.
The historical tradition has to date from the time of ratification of the Second Amendment, in 1791, or the Fourteenth Amendment, in 1868.
No such historical tradition has been found. Repeaters with a magazine capacity of over 20 rounds (the Girandoni air rifle used on the Lewis and Clark expedition) existed and were well known before 1791. Repeating rifles with magazines holding 15 rounds were used during the Civil War. They were popular and sold without government restraint to US citizens in 1868.
The next few months will tell us if the Ninth Circuit is willing to comply with the instruction of the Supreme Court, or if they will devise some other scheme to avoid treating the Second Amendment with as much respect as the First Amendment.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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