A federal judge has delivered a ruling against California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” for the second time, deeming the ban unconstitutional.
Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez ruled that California’s ban violates a recent precedent set by the Supreme Court in last year’s New York Rifle Association v. Bruen case. There, the Court determined that gun control laws passed by states must coincide with the “historical tradition” of firearm ownership and regulation in the United States.
“California’s answer to the criminal misuse of a few is to disarm its many good residents. That knee-jerk reaction is constitutionally untenable, just as it was 250 years ago,” Judge Benitez pointed out in his ruling.
“The State of California posits that its ‘assault weapon’ ban, the law challenged here, promotes an important public interest of disarming some mass shooters even though it makes criminals of law-abiding residents who insist on acquiring these firearms for self-defense,” Benitez wrote. “Nevertheless, more than that is required to uphold a ban.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is an outspoken opponent of civilians owning firearms, reacted to the decision, expressing his concern for public safety and saying, “Californians’ elected representatives decided almost 35 years ago that weapons of war have no place in our communities. Today, Judge Benitez decided that he knows better, public safety be damned.”
In 2021, Judge Benitez issued a similar ruling where he questioned the constitutionality of California’s ban on “assault weapons.” In his previous ruling, he compared the AR-15 to a swiss army knife, claiming that the rifle is a “perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment.”
The district judge also played a role in striking down California’s law limiting magazine capacity and the prohibition of possession or sale of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. Last month, Benitez ruled that California’s magazine capacity law is unconstitutional because “magazines come within the text of the constitutional declaration that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
Following the judge’s decision, the California Attorney General filed a notice of appeal, with the ban remaining in effect for 10 days while the appeal process unfolds. Attorney General Rob Bonta has expressed his resentment toward the ruling, calling the decision “dangerous and misguided.”
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
