Attorney General Knudsen asks U.S. Supreme Court to strike down ban on standard firearm magazines

Montana Attorney General Knudsen joined 22 other state attorneys general in asking the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to protect the gun rights of all Americans by declaring unconstitutional a California law that bans firearm magazines that are capable of holding more than ten rounds – a standard capacity for many popular firearms owned by Montanans.

The California District Court held that the law violated the Second Amendment, as did a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel. However, after California sought review from the full court, the Ninth Circuit reversed and upheld the law. The case is now being appealed to SCOTUS, where Attorney General Knudsen is urging justices to reverse the Ninth Circuit’s misguided decision that imperils the rights of citizens in other states.

“There is nothing sinister about citizens bearing Standard Magazines. Law-abiding citizens bearing Standard Magazines with lawful firearms benefit public safety, counter-balance the threat of illegal gun violence, and help make our streets safer,” the brief states. “The arms at issue in these proceedings are commonly used by millions of law-abiding citizens for a myriad of lawful purposes. California’s law criminalizes mere possession of commonly used arms even in the home for self-defense, and therefore the law strikes at the core of the Second Amendment…The Court should grant certiorari to make clear that an outright ban on arms commonly used by law-abiding citizens, like California’s here, is unconstitutional.”

Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming also signed on.

Click here to read the full amicus brief.