CA DOJ Asks Court to Stay Ruling, Prevent ‘High Capacity’ Mag Sales

The California Department of Justice is asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California to stay its recent ruling against the state’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds.

Breitbart News reported that Judge Roger Benitez ruled against the ban on March 29, 2019, issuing an order barring California Attorney General Xavier Becerra from enforcing it.

Benitez cited the Supreme Court’s District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) decision in his ruling, noting that “millions of ammunition magazines able to hold more than 10 rounds are in common use by law-abiding responsible citizens for lawful uses like self-defense. This is enough to decide that a magazine able to hold more than 10 rounds passes the Heller test.“

Becarra is now seeking a stay on that ruling in order to prevent Californians from acquiring such magazines, pending an appeal of Benitez’s ruling. Becarra’s filing specifically asks for return to the “status quo,” wherein the purchase of magazines holding more than 10 rounds is banned until an appeal is filed and heard:

To effectively preserve the status quo, and to prevent a sudden influx of largecapacity magazines (LCMs) into the State of California (the “State”), Defendant respectfully requests that the Court issue an immediate, temporary stay pending its ruling on the application for a stay pending appeal. Even if this Court, or the Ninth Circuit, ultimately issues a stay pending appeal, the State will suffer irreparable injury if LCMs are permitted to flow into the State in the interim.

Plaintiff’s attorney C.D. Michel makes clear that opposition filing will be forthcoming.

The case is Duncan v. Becerra, No. 2:17-cv-56-81 in the U.S. District Court for Southern California.

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. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.