A federal judge has once again handed a deep blue state a huge loss regarding a highly controversial gun control measure that is popular among Democrats.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled again that California’s three-decade-old ban on so-called “assault weapons” is a violation of the Second Amendment and therefore unconstitutional, according to The Associated Press.
In his ruling, Benitez, a George W. Bush appointee, agreed that semiautomatic rifles like AR-15s are used to commit crimes. But more significantly, he claimed, millions more law-abiding Americans who bought the guns for self-defense now own the weapons.
“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 in his decision, per the AP. “Nevertheless, more than that is required to uphold a ban.”
The AP added:
The judge’s ruling is nearly identical to a 2021 decision in which he called California’s ban on assault weapons a “failed experiment.” Benitez has repeatedly struck down multiple California firearms laws. Just last month, he ruled the state cannot ban gun owners from having detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
Benitez’s latest decision would overturn multiple state statutes related to assault weapons. The judge gave the state 10 days to seek a stay on the ruling as part of an appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office had already filed a notice of appeal.
In a response, Bonta used typical Democrat talking points to criticize the ruling.
“Weapons of war have no place on California’s streets,” Bonta said in a statement Thursday. “This has been state law in California for decades, and we will continue to fight for our authority to keep our citizens safe from firearms that cause mass casualties. In the meantime, assault weapons remain unlawful for purchase, transfer, or possession in California.”
John Dillon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs who sued to get the law overturned, hailed Benitez’s ruling.
“The Court’s decision is constitutionally sound and addresses the many inadequacies of the State’s arguments and so-called justifications for this unconstitutional ban,” Dillon said in a statement Thursday. “We will continue to fight for our Plaintiffs’ Second Amendment rights through any appeal until the State is forced to start respecting these rights.”
Bonta had filed an appeal of Benitez’s 2021 ruling. However, before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could rule on it, the U.S. Supreme Court “issued a ruling in a New York case that set a new standard for how courts should consider gun restrictions. The 9th Circuit vacated Benitez’s previous decision and sent the case back to him to reconsider under the new standard,” the AP reported.
But Benitez once again concluded that the ban was unconstitutional, comparing it to a Bowie Knife.
“Like the Bowie Knife which was commonly carried by citizens and soldiers in the 1800s, ‘assault weapons’ are dangerous, but useful. But unlike the Bowie Knife, the United States Supreme Court has said, ‘(t)here is a long tradition of widespread lawful gun ownership by private individuals in this country,’” Benitez wrote.
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has repeatedly called on Congress to reissue a ban on such weapons similar to the one he helped pass as a U.S. senator in 1994. That law had a 10-year sunset date, however, and a GOP-controlled Congress refused to renew it in 2004 after studies showed it had a negligible effect on murder rates.
The California suit was filed by the San Diego County Gun Owners Political Action Committee, California Gun Rights Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation and Firearms Policy Coalition.
California has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
