City attorneys representing California’s major urban centers, who filed in support of California’s challenge, drew the support of national gun control advocates and attorneys general from other blue states. By Tuesday’s decision, the case had taken on a national dimension, as partisans lined up to back or fight the lower court’s ruling.
Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) responded to a school shooting in Michigan by tweeting that “NRA blood money controls the GOP.”īut the high-capacity magazine debate could ultimately be out of California’s hands. City Council voted unanimously to ban untraceable “ghost guns,” and outgoing Rep. After the Democrat-dominated Legislature passed the 2016 law restricting magazines, voters bolstered the cause by passing the Newsom-championed Proposition 63 by an overwhelming, nearly 30-point margin. Gavin Newsom offered a blistering response to that ruling, condemning Benitez as a “wholly-owned subsidiary of the gun lobby and the National Rifle Association.”Ĭalifornia’s electorate largely shares Newsom’s animosity toward the NRA and his appetite for stricter gun laws. District Court Judge Roger Benitez, a Bush appointee who subsequently ensured the enmity of gun control advocates with a now-notorious ruling that struck down California’s assault weapons ban and compared AR-15s to Swiss Army Knives. That ruling reversed the initial judgment of U.S.
Gun safety advocates had reason to celebrate Tuesday after the 9th Circuit upheld California’s ban on large-capacity magazines. THE BUZZ - AIMING FOR THE HIGH COURT:California’s zest for gun control could produce a landmark national decision - and California Democrats may not like the outcome.