By a 7-4 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by firearms owners that banning magazines with more than 10 rounds of ammunition violated their right to bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment.
The majority opinion by Circuit Judge Susan Graber called the 2017 ban a “reasonable fit for the important government interest of reducing gun violence” that interfered “only minimally” with the right to self-defense.
One of Tuesday’s dissenters, Circuit Judge Patrick Bumatay, said high-capacity magazines have been used for centuries, 🤔 with millions in use today, and deserved protection under the 2008 Supreme Court decision giving individuals a right to bear arms.
Judge Susan Graber, writing for the majority, noted that mass shootings that involved large-capacity magazines have killed or injured more than twice as many people as those involving smaller-capacity magazines.
“The ban on legal possession of large-capacity magazines reasonably supports California’s effort to reduce the devastating damage wrought by mass shootings,” Graber, a Clinton appointee, wrote.
“Today’s decision is a victory for public safety in California,” said California attorney general Robert Bonta (D). “Gun violence is an epidemic in this country, but laws like our ban on large-capacity magazines are common sense ways to prevent this violence, including devastating mass shootings.”
