Ninth Circuit Reverses District Court Decision: Rules California Magazine Ban Constitutional

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court ruling Tuesday, siding with California Attorney General Rob Bonta to allow the ban on possession of large-capacity magazines.

On July 3, 2017, Breitbart News noted that District Court Judge Roger Benitez ruled against California’s large-capacity magazine ban, noting it failed “the simple test of Heller.”

Benitez’s ruling was appealed to the Ninth Circuit and upheld by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit on July 17, 2018, sending it back to Benitez.

Benitez then ruled against the ban again on March 29, 2019, citing Heller once more. He observed that “millions of ammunition magazines able to hold more than 10 rounds are in common use by law-abiding responsible citizens for lawful uses like self-defense. This is enough to decide that a magazine able to hold more than 10 rounds passes the Heller test.“

The Ninth Circuit ruled the large-capacity magazine ban was unconstitutional on August 14, 2020.

The case then went to an en banc hearing of the Ninth Circuit and on November 30, 2021, the en banc ruling was issued in favor of the ban.

The ruling says:

The en banc court reversed the district court’s summary judgment and remanded for entry of judgment in favor of Defendant Rob Bonta, Attorney General for the State of California, in an action raising a facial challenge to California Penal Code section 32310, which prohibits, with certain exceptions, possession of large-capacity magazines, defined as those that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.

Duncan v. Becerra en Banc Opinion 11-30-21 by Breitbart News on Scribd

The en banc Ninth Circuit rejected arguments that a large-capacity ban necessarily forces law-abiding citizens to forfeit magazines that were lawfully purchased, noting:

California law allows owners of large-capacity magazines to modify them to accept ten rounds or fewer. Owners also may sell their magazines to firearm dealers or remove them from the state. And the law provides several exceptions to the ban on large-capacity magazines, including possession by active or retired law enforcement officers, security guards for armored vehicles, and holders of special weapons permits.

The case is Duncan v. Bonta, No. 19-55376, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

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. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.