Judge: California law mandating handgun safety features violates Second Amendment

A federal judge is blocking a California law that would mandate certain safety features for semiautomatic handguns. 

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney on Monday ruled in favor of the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) and four individuals who had said the law violates the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms since no new guns being manufactured complied with it, Reuters reported. 

The plaintiffs noted that gun buyers in California were de facto limited to purchasing models from before 2013, the year when the law fully took effect. 

California’s Unsafe Handgun Act, enacted in 2001, requires new semiautomatic weapons to have an indicator showing when there is a round in the chamber and a mechanism to prevent firing when the magazine is not fully inserted in case to prevent an accidental discharge, according to Reuters. 

The state law also requires handguns to implement microstamping, where a serial number will be stamped on each bullet fired. 

Carney, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, also said in his ruling that the state failed to point out any historical parallels for its law, adding that residents “should not be forced to settle for decade-old models of handguns.”

CRPA President Chuck Michel celebrated the court ruling in a statement saying: “If we can hold on to this great Second Amendment win, people will be able to choose from among thousands of the latest, greatest and safest handguns made today.”

Carney noted that the state has 14 days to appeal his ruling, Reuters reported.