PROPOSITION 63 SUFFERS FIRST DEFEAT IN COURT: FEDERAL JUDGE GRANTS CRPA’S REQUEST IN NRA SUPPORTED CASE TO STAY ENFORCEMENT OF CALIFORNIA’S MAGAZINE BAN Today, attorneys for the California Rifle & Pistol Association, supported by the National Rifle Association, obtained an important injunction in the case of Duncan v. Becerra, a federal lawsuit challenging California’s restrictions against standard capacity magazines. The injunction effectively prevents California from enforcing its recently enacted ban against possession of such magazines while the case is pending, which was set to take effect on July 1—less than 2 days from today.
In granting the injunction, Judge Roger Benitez explained that Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in this lawsuit because “public safety interest may not eviscerate the Second Amendment.”
Filed in May, Duncan is the second in a series of carefully planned lawsuits challenging the package of gun control laws passed last year that have collectively become known as “gunmageddon” in addition to the anti-gun Proposition 63. The case challenges California’s restrictions against standard capacity magazines on the grounds that it violates the Second Amendment, due process clause, and takings clause of the United States Constitution.
As a result of the injunction, California gun owners will not be required to surrender or permanently alter their lawfully owned property by July 1. Instead, the injunction preserves the “status quo” while the constitutionality of the law is decided by the court.