The man who Biden wants to be his health secretary, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, is trying to get the ban on high capacity magazines reinstated in California after judges ruled in August that the ban violated the 2nd Amendment and was unconstitutional. He’s succeeded in getting the Ninth Circuit to rehear the case en banc:
FOX NEWS – California’s overturned ban on high-capacity magazines could be reinstated on appeal after a federal court’s split-decision found it unconstitutional last year.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in California announced Thursday that an 11-member panel will rehear the case.
In Duncan v. Becerra, a three-judge panel in August ruled 2-1 that the ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds violated the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who would leave office if the Senate confirms him as the Biden administration’s health secretary, filed a petition shortly after the ruling, seeking review of the panel’s decision. He argued that it was “inconsistent with existing case law” and a threat to public safety.
He cited a 2019 study at Columbia University that found mass shootings were more than three-times as deadly in states that allowed high-capacity magazines.
“Large-capacity magazines have been used in many horrific mass shootings around the country, including right here in California,” Becerra said in a statement. “That’s why today’s decision by the Ninth Circuit to rehear this case is critical; it is the next step in the defense of our state’s commonsense gun laws.”
The National Rifle Association, which had backed the lawsuit that overturned the ban, said the 9th Circuit’s decision was “not surprising.”
In an alert to its members Thursday, the NRA said it would continue to support Second Amendment cases.
The case could impact similar laws in other states.
But even if the Ninth Circuit overrules the decision to block the ban, the case could make its way to the Supreme Court – which now has a stronger conservative majority following Trump’s term in office.
California would ban all guns if they could and this ban on high capacity magazines is nothing but a step in that direction. Which means the overturning of it is a step in the wrong direction, which is why they need the courts to reinstate it.
But maybe this is a good thing if it goes to the Supreme Court, because that’s surely where it will head if the Ninth reinstates the ban. Although with this Supreme Court, there’s no telling what will happen.