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Washington judge rules state's high-capacity gun magazine ban unconstitutional
After the lower court's ruling, Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed an emergency appeal to the state Supreme Court, seeking to keep the law on the books
Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor ruled Washington's ban on high-capacity magazines unconstitutional on Monday. Bashor issued an immediate injunction to stop the state from enforcing the ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, per The Seattle Times. However, minutes after the ruling, the Washington Supreme Court issued an order to keep the law in effect that had been in place since 2022 while the state appeals the decision.
Are high-capacity magazines illegal in Washington state?
During Monday's ruling, Bashor highlighted a 2022 US Supreme Court decision, Bruen, that states gun regulations must be “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.” He wrote, “The State must provide some history of regulation in line with the requirements of Bruen.”
Citing the state's failure to do so, Bashor added, “There was no appetite to limit gun rights by the Founders. Though the specific technology available today may not have been envisioned, the Founders expected technological advancements.”
He argued that in order to justify the current ban, the state must show a historical law from around the time of the Second Amendment's adoption. “The result is few, if any, historical analogue laws by which a state can justify a modern firearms regulation,” Bashor wrote.
After the Superior Court's ruling, Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed an emergency appeal to the state Supreme Court, seeking to keep the law on the books. In consequence, the Washington state Supreme Court commissioner Michael Johnston granted an emergency stay on Monday evening.
Keeping the law on the books for now, Johnston cited that he considered “the debatable nature of the factual and legal issues raised in this case, and the public safety issues concerning the proliferation of large capacity magazines.”
Calling Bashor's decision “incorrect,” Ferguson said in a prepared statement, “Every court in Washington and across the country to consider challenges to a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines under the U.S. or Washington Constitution has either rejected that challenge or been overruled. This law is constitutional.”
