Second Amendment Foundation Files Suit Against California ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed suit against California’s “assault weapons” ban on November 29, alleging it violates California’s Administrative Procedures Act.

Moreover, SAF claims the new “assault weapons” regulations “are invalid and unenforceable (because) they far exceed the scope, content, and purpose of the legal authority on which they are purportedly based.”

Breitbart News obtained the SAF release, which says, “California lawmakers have incrementally tightened regulations on the ownership of so-called ‘assault weapons’ over the past several years while expanding the definition of what constitutes such a firearm. The new regulations have done likewise with no oversight.”

SAF founder and Executive President Alan Gottlieb said, “The state’s relentless effort to crush the rights of law-abiding gun owners has gotten completely out of hand. In this particular case, the new regulations not only exceed the scope of the law, they are in conflict with the law, and are contradictory in some cases.”

Breitbart News reported that the law including “assault weapons” ban enhancements was scheduled to take effect January 1, 2017, and would require all grandfathered “assault weapons” to be registered with the state by January 1, 2018. However, implementation of the ban has proven problematic, and the state did not actually post the official language of the ban — terms, definitions, etc. — until the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Gottlieb observed, “It amounts to an illegal regulatory scheme that should not be allowed to go forward. The government agencies responsible for enforcing the law must also follow the law. This case is an important step in protecting millions of law-abiding gun owners from an out-of-control regulatory state.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.