A Washington judge ruled the state’s high-capacity magazine ban unconstitutional on Monday, but the law will remain in place for now after an emergency order from the state Supreme Court.
Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor ruled Washington lawmakers’ 2022 ban on sales of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds violates both the state and U.S. constitutions, the Seattle Times reported.
Washington state Democrat lawmakers in 2022 banned the sale of magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition. A Cowlitz County judge on Monday ruled the ban violates both the state and U.S. constitutions. (George Frey/Getty Images/File)
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“There was no appetite to limit gun rights by the Founders. Though the specific technology available today may not have been envisioned, the Founders expected technological advancements,” Bashor wrote. “The result is few, if any, historical analogue laws by which a state can justify a modern firearms regulation.”
He issued an injunction, which would have stopped the state from enforcing the ban and allowed stores to resume selling high-capacity magazines. But Washington’s attorney general immediately appealed to the state Supreme Court, calling Bashor’s decision “incorrect” and arguing the law is “essential to addressing mass shootings in our communities.”
“This law saves lives, and I will continue to defend it,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who is currently running for governor, said in a statement Monday.
Washington state’s Supreme Court commissioner granted an emergency stay minutes later, keeping the ban on the books while the state appeals Bashor’s decision.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has gone after several gun stores for allegedly continuing to sell high-capacity magazines after the 2022 ban took effect. A Kelso-based business argued the law was unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson/File)
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Monday’s ruling came after Ferguson sued Gator’s Guns in Kelso, Washington, alleging the store continued to sell high-capacity magazines after the ban took effect. In its defense, Gator’s Guns challenged the law’s constitutionality.
Bashor pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, in which the majority ruled that gun laws must be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Washington failed to cite a law from the same time period as the Second Amendment’s adoption to support the ban, Bashor wrote.
“Looks like Attorney General Ferguson shot himself in the foot when he went after the gun store for not complying with an unconstitutional gun law,” Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), told Fox News in a statement.
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SAF was not involved with the high-capacity magazine case, but it is suing Washington over a separate law that bans so-called assault weapons. The foundation was “disappointed” the higher court stayed Bashor’s order so quickly, SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut said in a statement.
“It seems more often than not, courts step in to protect Government quickly, but do not provide the same speed in reviewing the constitutionality of the challenge laws,” Kraut said. “Washingtonians continue to be deprived of their constitutional rights while this case proceeds.”
Washington state lawmakers banned magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds in 2022. The following year, they banned the sale of all “assault weapons” – primarily semiautomatic rifles – in an effort to curb mass shootings. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images/File)
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Democrat lawmakers adopted the magazine ban in 2022 at Ferguson’s request. Since then, his office has targeted multiple businesses accused of illegally selling high-capacity magazines.
Earlier this year, a gun store and its owner in Federal Way, Wash., agreed to pay $3 million after Ferguson sued them for breaking the law.
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