Judge Rules Against the Requirements in California’s Handgun Roster

Judge Dana M. Sabraw issued a preliminary injunction against the chamber loaded indicator (CLI), magazine disconnect mechanism (MDM), and microstamping requirements for California’s Unsafe Handgun Act (UHA), the act under which the state’s handgun roster is overseen.

The preliminary injunction also blocks the UHA’s three-for-one rule, under which, each approval of a new handgun has to be complimented by the removal of three guns which had previously been legal for purchase.

Plaintiffs in the case, which include, Lana Rae Renna, the Second Amendment Foundation, the Firearms Policy Coalition, and San Diego County Gun Owners, argued that the CLI, MDM, and microstamping requirements “have prohibited the manufacture and retail sale in California of a large segment of modern handguns that are otherwise in common use throughout the United States for self-defense and other lawful purposes.”

They also said the criteria set forth by UHA “[limits] handgun manufacturing and retail sales to those handguns that can satisfy numerous testing and safety feature requirements not required in 47 other states.”

Moreover, “plaintiffs further allege the roster will shrink at an accelerated pace in the future because of the UHA’s “three-for-one” roster removal provision, which mandates that for each new roster compliant handgun added to the roster, three “grandfathered” handguns must be removed in reverse order of their dates of admission to the roster.”

Sabraw decided in favor of a preliminary injunction against the CLI, MDM, and microstamping requirements of the UHA, as well against the “three-for-one” rule.

Second Amendment Foundation’s executive director Adam Kraut commented on the decision, saying:

Today’s decision marks yet another victory for California gun owners and Californians who wish to purchase modern handguns. Importantly, the Court determined that California failed to present historically comparable analogues to its requirement that handguns be equipped with loaded chamber indicators, magazine disconnect safeties, and have the ability to imprint a microstamp on fired casings. It is long overdue for California’s restriction on the ability of its citizens to purchase modern handguns meet its fate of being relegated to the pages of history.

The case is Renna v. Bonta, No. 3:20-cv-02190 in United States District Court Southern District of California.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.