The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown a curveball to critics. Often, the court rules in favor of a leftist ideology that is overturned later on by the Supreme Court if they decide to hear the appeal. However, the Ninth Circuit three-person panel recently ruled 2-1 in favor of the Second Amendment.
On July 1, 2017, California enacted a law that made anyone that possessed a rifle magazine with the ability to house more than ten rounds illegal. Mostly, the state made lawful gun owners criminals.
The law was blatantly unconstitutional. When the Second Amendment was written, the firearm of choice, not that there was much choice, was the musket, or a single shot handgun. Semi-automatic rifles and semi-auto pistols did not exist. The Founding Fathers, brilliant in understanding human tendencies to rule as tyrants, did not see the future where firearms would be manufactured in a way to hold multiple rounds. Let alone a system where there is a multiple round magazine able to feed one projectile after another into the chamber.
It seems that the Ninth Circuit honestly took the timing, construction, and spirit of the words for the right to bear arms into consideration when making their decision. The most liberal appeals circuit in the country, based in San Francisco, is not known to make conservative rulings. This time, however, they appeared to operate like interpreters of the law, instead of activists.
Ninth Circuit surprise aside, the win for California residents is a breath of fresh air. While most people weren’t going to surrender their “high capacity” magazines voluntarily, they still would have to worry if the state was going create another law that would push for the mandatory seizure of the devices.
California will likely appeal to the Supreme Court, but the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh could prove vital to defeating the gun restricting California law after confirmation to the nation’s highest court.
Ironically, California is leading the way to the protection of gun rights. In an attempt to chip away at the Second Amendment, they are leading their leftist dreams to the Supreme Court via unconstitutional activist lawmaking. Due to the magnitude of the law, and other liberal states jumping on board, this issue will be heard at the highest level of the judiciary. Chances are gun rights will prevail, and leftist states will no longer be able to restrict 30 round magazines.
The left tries to criminalize owning firearms, or their components, as much as possible. Their attacks on our right to own firearms aren’t about safety. Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, New Orleans and other cities that restrict guns are an example. Those cities have the most stringent gun laws and the highest crime rates. Yet, their left-wing policies never change in the opposite direction.
Despite the ruling, don’t think that the “Ninth Circus” is moving in a conservative direction. For some reason, on this occasion, they decided to read and interpret the Constitution honestly. There need to be many more rulings that would be considered “constructionist.”
Make no mistake, this ruling is a rare victory for lawful California gun owners.
