Ninth Circuit Issues Stay Freezing California High-Capacity Magazine Ban

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a stay Tuesday which prevents the enforcement of California’s “large-capacity” magazine ban while an appeal is made to the Supreme Court.

Breitbart News reported that the Ninth Circuit on November 30 reversed a lower court ruling, siding with California Attorney General Rob Bonta and allowing the ban on possession of large-capacity magazines.

Breitbart News noted that District Court Judge Roger Benitez had ruled against the ban on July 3, 2017,  and his ruling was upheld by a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit a year later, on July 17, 2018.

Benitez then ruled against the ban again on March 29, 2019, and 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.

Following that ruling, the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) filed a motion to stay the en banc ruling so as to provide time for an appeal to be filed with SCOTUS:

Plaintiffs, including CRPA, acted quickly and filed a Motion to Stay Mandate which would keep the status quo in place while a Writ of Certiorari is filed with the Supreme Court to appeal the decision of the en banc panel. On December 20th the Ninth Circuit granted the Motion to Stay the Issuance of Mandate for a period of 150 days while the filings are completed for the Supreme Court.

The Ninth Circuit’s December 20, 2021, stay says:

Appellees’ unopposed motion to partially stay issuance of the mandate, Docket No. 192, is GRANTED. The mandate is partially stayed for a period of 150 days from the date of this order. If Appellees file a petition for certiorari with the United States Supreme Court during the period of partial stay, the partial stay shall continue until final disposition by the Supreme Court.

The CRPA reacted to the stay, saying, “With this Stay of Mandate granted by the court, it essentially means everything carries on as it has for the past several years. Those individual who lawfully own or possess magazines holding more than 10 rounds are allowed to keep them while the case is appealed.”

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.