9th Circuit ends California ban on high-capacity magazines

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday threw out California s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, saying the law violates the U.S. Constitution s protection of the right to bear firearms.

Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster, appellate Judge Kenneth Lee wrote for the panel s majority. California s ban on magazines holding more than 10 bullets strikes at the core of the Second Amendment the right to armed self-defense.

He noted that California passed the law in the wake of heart-wrenching and highly publicized mass shootings, but said that isn t enough to justify a ban whose scope is so sweeping that half of all magazines in America are now unlawful to own in California.

via apnews.com