Following a decision last week by a U.S. District Court judge to overturn a statewide ban on assault weapons, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Thursday the state has filed an appeal.
Speaking in San Francisco alongside Mayor London Breed, the state leaders said last week’s court decision challenging the 32-year-old state law that bans assault weapons was disappointing.
In his ruling last Friday, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez declared the ban unconstitutional, likening an AR-15 rifle to a Swiss army knife; “good for both home and battle.”
Benitez also wrote in his ruling, “The firearms deemed ‘assault weapons’ are fairly ordinary, popular modern rifles.”
“The opinion was shocking and troubling and of great concern,” Bonta said. “In the wake of the tragic mass shooting in San Jose a few weeks ago, we are sadly and starkly reminded that no one law will end mass shootings and gun violence, but we must continue to do our part to protect public safety here in California.”
“By allowing this judge’s ruling to occur and turning a blind eye; it’s not an option. Lives are at stake here. We don’t want to see another person, another child lost to gun violence in this city, in this state, in this country,” Breed said.
“It’s shameful in every way, shape, and form,” Newsom said. “We’ll fight this. We’ve got the right leaders and this is the right state. No other state in America has been progressive and aggressive on gun safety in the U.S. and we have results to back it up. Gun safety saves lives. Period.”
The court ruling won’t take effect for 30 days after the ruling was made, meaning the ban on assault weapons remains in place. As part of Thursday’s appeal, Bonta said his office is also asking the court for the ban to remain in effect throughout the entire appeal process.
“The next step is filing our appeal, which we did, and filing our motion to stay,” Bonta said. “I don’t’ want to speculate about what happens next. Whether this case make it to the Supreme Court, it may never.”
Benitez’s ruling stems from a 2019 lawsuit filed California resident James Miller and others, alleging the assault weapons ban, established in 1989, is in violation of the Second Amendment.
“This judge is trying to make policy, which is not his job. It is the job of the Legislature and he is stepping far outside his appropriate behavior in how he’s approaching this decision,” said Robyn Thomas, executive director at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
42 comments
That’s great. If turned on appeal then it will be challenged in the Supreme Court and probably pass there and with that, it will set precedence for the rest of The United States. The long game is strong. Time will tell.
Question: Should futons be considered ‘Assault Couches”?
The AR15 rifle and similar rifles have no special capabilities beyond that of any other semi automatic rifle except for being light weight and “scary looking” to people who know nothing about firearms.
Magazine capacity is another story, but high capacity magazines for even the most common semi automatic rifles are either available, or easy to make.
The “Assault Rifle” argument is idiotic.
Argue about magazine capacity all you want, but if even one semi auto rifle is banned why not ban all the others?
One shot for each pull of the trigger….
THEY ALL WORK THE SAME WAY!
The Assault Rifle ban is a ruse to get all semi automatic firearms banned.
You’re exactly right.
The Armalite platform was design for exactly one reason: by firing a lighter round, it allowed the soldier in the field to carry more ammo.
If I were to hold up a AR-15 chambered in .22LR and a Marlin 10-22,
99% of the observers would say the former is more deadly/dangerous than the latter…
Try to reconcile these remarks: “In the wake of the tragic mass shooting in San Jose a few weeks ago…” and “… we have results to back it up. [unconstitutional gun laws] saves lives. Period.”
The ruling makes a strong argument against ineffective laws that trample on the Constitution.
The guy in San Jose used two pistols, not an AR-15. He also should have been red-flagged, and the FBI knew about him (again). But blame gun owners who have never done anything evil for the government’s failures.
So does stop and frisk.
Truth be known, I actually think the AR 15 rifles are ugly, and the few that I ever had the opportunity to shoot made an annoying “twang” noise from the recoil spring inside the buttstock…. besides that I don’t like plastic.
I much prefer the Ruger Mini-14 or Mini-30, both are a pleasure to shoot.
Beautiful wooden stocks & blued steel…but heavier than the AR15 style rifles.
At most I will agree that a 20 round magazine should be the limit.
Any magazine that would hold more simply is too bulky, it just gets in the way and adds more weight to a rifle than is practical IMHO.
I agree. AR15 rifles are ugly. I prefer my shotgun. It’s purdey.
Been there & done that 20 is plenty.
How many shots do you need?
Expecting a mob? Don’t miss your target!
One well placed shot is better than 100 scattered to the wind Rambo.
Sorry guys… my response was to someone whose comment got deleted.
I have shot both the mini14 and AR 15, and while I love the classic lines and feel of the mini, the AR15 is a better fighting rifle in just about every way. I wouldn’t feel defenseless with either, though.
The “sproing” from the recoil spring can be tamed with grease or any number of aftermarket spring systems. Another strength of the AR is the vast market of add-ons and improvements available, far and above what the mini has.
@ Wage Slave…. I agree completely.
I just prefer the Ruger rifles.
The Ruger rifles certainly are nice. But the fact that I can break down and repair an AR-15 and replace a firing pin in minutes, in the field if I have to, makes it a more friendly rifle for the end user. If there is a firing pin problem with a Ruger, you must send it back to Ruger to work on it. Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to have a Mini-14. Heck, I’d love to have a Breakdown version of a Ruger 10-22.
there are multiple CA Compliant kits avail for the AR platform that allow me to own a .223 AR without the inane forced mods…
This would allow a more diverse selection of semi automatic carbines to be avail to the public.
Fact is, I can jack thru a ten round magazine in my Ruger Scout in about 8 seconds if I really try hard. Yet I only need one to drop my target.
mean while I can buy a semi automatic 10-22 for 160$ at nearly any gun shop.
Idiots are just scared by the look of the AR- most of the AR’s sold are .22LR since they’re cheap and look scary.
Frankly, gun bans are for the simple minded. Criminals dont follow the rules.
+1
What part of SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED is confusing?
It confuses them because they are authoritarians and therefore often feel compelled to infringe on the rights of others.
The A R15 riffle was first sold to the public in 1964 . The AR15 sold to the public was never used by the military . Our lying politicians say the AR15 is more lethal than other weapons . Not true . Almost any caliber hollow point bullet is more lethal. This whole assault weapon B S is being pushed by the media and their liberal democrat politicians . The same politicians that want to close the prisons and are letting criminals out of jail .
Newsom oughta watch this:
https://tinyurl.com/2trfyzwu
The fact that they don’t allow you to use an AR-15 for Deer Hunting in California should say it all. The reason it’s not allowed? It’s not a deadly enough round to kill a deer. You have to use something bigger.
You can use an AR to hunt deer if its chambered with a legal hunting round.
A gun is a tool and theres a tool for every job. Even if the calibers were equal, I would always choose the 22″ in barrel of my bolt action over my AR’s 16″ barrel for accuracy over the distance to ethically bag my game.
Just watched Gabbin’ on the news commenting on this court decision, he didn’t have that sh*t eatin’ grin on his face, he did look like his panties were pretty knotted up.
“Lives are at stake here”.
Indeed.
Mostly dictators and totalitarians’ lives.
People just like the grease ball, who should pound sand.
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I’d like to see you all try to knock down feral hogs en masse that wreck wetlands and farmlands using a typical rifle or shotgun. Feral pigs cause millions of dollars worth of damage and an AR-type weapon is the only efficient means to rid the lands of these pests.
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#2A
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Yeah…… no other way to do it.
https://tinyurl.com/29thmn8v
Mt Diablo has a bad wild boar problem. Wide swaths of ground along the Castle Rock and Mt Diablo trails look like theyve been rototilled. The ranger told me that the traps dont work…that they may catch one a month in the trap.
But they arent allowed to cull via shooting and the boar population is increasing faster that they can reduce it.
Good ol’ CA tactics. Offer ’em a lollipop and maybe they’ll go away?
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Thanks but trapping is much less efficient.
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What demagogue-ery. The San Jose shooter used pistols, so nothing about that is even halfway relevant.
shall not be infringed
#RecallGavinNewsom
+1
CA politicians will needlessly spend millions defending this unconstitutional ban and will lose. What a waste of taxpayer money. Easy to see that CA is infringing on 2A rights with this ban…dont need a judge to tell me the obvious. Where will be the outrage when the funds to defend this ban are uselessly spent??
A no-brainer. This judge has been overturned times before so we are used to it. Misguided, up in the clouds somewhere where a swiss army knife is he same as a assault rifle.
Steve – apparently you know nothing about firearms….or the Constitution, for that matter.
The AR-15 is NOT a “weapon of war.” It is a semi-automatic rifle using an intermediate power cartridge, essentially identical to non “scary-looking” rifles of similar or identical calibers or functionality. The military has NEVER used the AR-15. Ever hear of the M-16? You know, a select-fire rifle?
Learn something before “shooting off” your mouth. Your ignorance is obvious.
He is not equating rifle to a pocket knife, he is referring to multiple utility of the item.
Could have said it’s like a pickup truck, could be used for commuting, could be used to bring lumber to worksite. A sick in the head driver could also use it to mow down pedestrians on a sidewalk. Same type of comparison.
You do realize a “swiss army knife” comparison is not a literal comparison right?
I see libs losing their minds over this phrase…literacy is a lost art.
The comparison is apt: the AR platform can be used for self defense, sport shooting, hunting and ( if needed) battle. Its truly a swiss army knife weapons platform.
It’s also interesting that the media and the Governor latched onto the knife comparison but seem not to have read far enough into the ruling to catch the part about far more Californians getting knifed to death than done in with an AR-15.
The bottom line is that we don’t have a gun problem. We have a criminal problem. It’s just easier to blame an object than to blame a problem that is so severe and out of control you can’t fix it, especially when it’s one that makes you look impotent as a politician.
Not only a criminal problem, but also a politician problem….and therefore a voter problem …. And also a failure of the pate at to raise today’s voters to perform basic critical thinking skills.
All gun laws are illegal. SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!!!
I’ve taken a long break from Claycord for my own reasons. But I must say that I appreciate the rational thinking that a lot of you have been displaying in my absence. Thank you.
If VTA workers were allowed conceal carry, there would not have been a mass shooting, only two. The first victim, then the shooter.
Fact: More people are killed by hammers than AR-15s. But let’s continue the anti-gun narrative.
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