WASHINGTON, D.C. (KGTV) — In its second ruling in one week involving California gun laws, the Supreme Court Thursday ordered a lower court to revisit its previous ruling upholding the state's ban on high-capacity gun magazines.
The ban had been upheld in 2021 by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The new order from the Surpreme Court requires the 9th Circuit to revisit that decision, but using new guidance issued by the Supreme Court in its recent ruling in a New York gun case. “The new guidance basically says that they have to make sure that when they look at a gun regulation, they have to make sure that that regulation is both consistent with the second amendment, the text- it means what it says- but also historical understanding," legal analyst Wendy Patrick told ABC 10News.
Patrick says the Court did not dictate an outcome, meaning the 9th Circuit could, once again, uphold the law and keep it in effect. If the Circuit Court rules against the law this time, lawmakers could try to craft a new law that accomplishes the same goals while still meeting the new guidance from the Supreme Court.
“It’s a common sense gun law and I believe it will be reinstated," said Rose Ann Sharp, head of the group NeverAgainCA. She says that the data shows that the magazine ban has been effective in preventing gun violence in California, and she hopes that data will meet the new criteria for historical understanding.
However, several anti-gun violence advocates say this ruling could open the floodgates for gun rights groups to challenge many more gun restrictions that have been passed in the last several years.
