The District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the city’s highest court, has ruled that the District’s ban on firearm magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds violates the Second Amendment.
The landmark decision marks a major victory for gun owners and constitutional advocates who have long argued that the District’s strict firearm laws infringe on Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.
The ruling came in the case ofTyree Benson v. United States,where the court concluded that magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds, often labeled by gun control advocates as “high-capacity magazines,” are protected arms under the Constitution.
“Magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition are ubiquitous in our country, numbering in the hundreds of millions, accounting for about half of the magazines in the hands of our citizenry, and they come standard with the most popular firearms sold in America today,” the court wrote.
Because these magazines are commonly owned by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes, including self-defense, the court ruled that banning them outright violates the Second Amendment.
The court relied heavily on the U.S. Supreme Court’s modern Second Amendment precedents, includingDistrict of Columbia v. Heller(2008)andNew York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen(2022).
Those decisions established that arms “in common use” by law-abiding citizens cannot be banned outright.
According to the court, magazines holding more than ten rounds clearly meet that standard.
“Hundreds of millions” of these magazines exist in the United States, the opinion noted, and they account for roughly half of the magazines owned by American gun owners.
The judges emphasized that these magazines are not unusual or exotic weapons. Instead, they come standard with many of the most widely sold handguns and rifles in the country.
Source: The Gateway Pundit
