SAN DIEGO, CA- In another victory for Second Amendment advocates, a federal judge last week ruled a California law banning assault weapons was unconstitutional, Reuters reports.
The judge ruled that based on a ruling last year from the United States Supreme Court, the 1989 law banning certain semi-automatic weapons would not withstand further judicial scrutiny.
U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez made the ruling in a case where gun rights groups and others challenged the California law, claiming it infringed on the rights of law-abiding people to carry firearms such as the AR-15, a violation of the Second Amendment’s guarantee of the right to “keep and bear arms.”
Under his ruling, Benitez issued a temporary injunction; however, he put a 10-day hold on that to allow the state to appeal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement he would appeal Benitez’s ruling, calling the decision “dangerous and misguided.”
Using liberal talking points, Bonta said, “Weapons of war have no place on California’s streets.”
Last year, the sometimes conservative-leaning Supreme Court struck down a New York law that placed limits on carrying concealed handguns outside the home.
That case, New York State Rifle & Pistol Associaton v Bruen, saw the high court establish a new legal test for firearms restrictions, ruling they must be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation” to pass constitutional muster.
In his decision, Benitez wrote there were “no founding era dead ringers or historical twins” for the California ban. He reminded California that it identified no historical laws before adopting the ban that restricted rifles as they became more technologically advanced.
“California’s answer to the criminal use of a few is to disarm its many good residents. That knee-jerk reaction is constitutionally untenable, just as it was 250 years ago,” Benitez added.
In 1989, California became the first state to ban so-called “assault” weapons after a school shooting where five children were killed.
The California challenge was brought forth by several California residents who sought to own semi-automatic rifles, such as the AR-15, and several gun rights groups, including the Firearms Policy Coalition, the California Gun Rights Foundation, and the Second Amendment Foundation.
Appointed by President George W. Bush, Benitez slammed California’s decision to ban assault weapons, noting that it “creates the extreme policy that a handful of criminals can dictate the conduct and infringe on the freedom of law-abiding citizens.”
In 2021, Benitez issued a similar ruling. However, last year, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, vacated his order, directing the judge to review the matter further until the Supreme Court’s decision.
Benitez, becoming a favorite jurist of gun rights groups and Second Amendment advocates, declared California’s ban on so-called “high-capacity” magazines unconstitutional for similar reasons. The 9th Circuit ruled last week the ban can remain in effect while the state appeals the ruling.
In the assault weapons ruling, Benitez wrote:
“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.”
The California appeal was among several that have been filed challenging California’s draconian gun restrictions. It is expected the courts may have to rule on many others nationwide, as Democrat-run states and Joe Biden have signaled additional restrictions in their respective states and the federal government.
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