Federal judge finds California’s 1989 assault weapons ban unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled Thursday that California’s ban on assault weapons violates the Second Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez cited the Supreme Court’s ruling against a New York gun control law last year in his decision to overturn the California measure, which was first implemented in 1989.

In his ruling, Benitez said there were “no founding era dead ringers or historical twins” for California’s restrictions and that state legislators had no precedent for banning semi-automatic firearms. 

He also dismissed the state’s argument that regulation of firearms should change as the technology developed over time.

Benitez ruled against the California law in 2021, but an appeals court vacated that ruling and later ordered him to review the law again with the new context from the Supreme Court’s 2022 New York case.

“[The law] creates the extreme policy that a handful of criminals can dictate the conduct and infringe on the freedom of law-abiding citizens,” Benitez wrote.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta pledged in a statement that he would appeal, calling the judge’s decision “dangerous and misguided.”

“Weapons of war have no place on California’s streets,” he said. “Once again, this district court issued a dangerous and misguided decision and I will work vigorously to reverse it on appeal.”

“We will not stop in our efforts to protect the safety of communities to live without fear of becoming victims of gun violence, while at the same time respecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners,” he continued.

The state’s ban will remain in effect during the appeal period.