Judge Finds Washington State ‘High Capacity’ Magazine Ban Unconstitutional

Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor on Monday found Washington state’s “high capacity” magazine ban violated both the U.S. Constitution and the state’s own constitution.

The Associated Press noted Bashor reached his decision by weighing the ban in light of the Supreme Court of the United States’ Bruen (2022) decision.

On July 14, 2022, less than a month after the Bruen decision was handed down, Breitbart News reported that the decision did not bode well for 21st century gun controls because it requires such controls to withstand being tested via a search for  historicity in the American experience.

The Washington Times pointed to Justice Clarence Thomas’ majority opinion in Bruen, in which he noted the importance of the decision, which built upon McDonald v. Chicago (2010) and District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).

Thomas wrote, “The test courts must apply is whether a firearms restriction would have seemed reasonable to the founding generation that drafted and ratified the Second Amendment. If not, the law must give way to the Constitution.”

The Seattle Times pointed out that Bashor pointed to Bruen in his decision, writing, “The State must provide some history of regulation in line with the requirements of Bruen, The state has failed to do so.”

He issued an immediate injunction against enforcement of the “high capacity” magazine ban on Monday, blocking enforcement of the law.

However, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson immediately appealed Bashor’s decision to the state supreme court and an emergency stay was issued, allowing the ban to be enforced while an appeal plays out.

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 pro-staffer for Pulsar Night Vision. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.