By Don Thompson, AP
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned two lower court judges and upheld California’s ban on high-capacity magazines Tuesday in a split decision that may be headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The statute outlaws no weapon, but only limits the size of the magazine that may be used with firearms,” the judges ruled in the 7-4 decision.
The majority reasoned that “the record demonstrates that the limitation interferes only minimally with the core right of self-defense, as there is no evidence that anyone ever has been unable to defend his or her home and family due to the lack of a large-capacity magazine; and … that the limitation saves lives.”
The en banc panel of the San Francisco-based court acted after two of three judges on a smaller Ninth Circuit panel last year ruled that the state’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 bullets violates the U.S.
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