Appeals Court Blocks Federal Judge’s Ruling To Overturn California’s Assault Weapons Ban

 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit has blocked a federal judge’s ruling overturning California’s longtime ban on assault weapons, in which he likened an AR-15 to a Swiss army knife.

A three-judge panel in a one-page order on Monday issued a stay of the June four order from U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez of the Southern District of California, in which the judge ruled that sections of the state ban in place since 1989 concerning military-style rifles are unconstitutional.

Senior Circuit Court Judge Barry G. Silverman, Circuit Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen and Circuit Judge Ryan D. Nelson wrote that the stay will continue to be in place pending the result of another case challenging the ban.

“The stay shall continue to be in effect till further order of this court,” the panel wrote.

The ninth Circuit panel stated parties will file a status update within 14 days of a decision in the other case, Rupp v. Bonta.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), to whom Benitez granted a 30-day stay of the ruling earlier this month, celebrated the ninth Circuit’s order after criticizing the judge’s decision as “fundamentally flawed.”

“This leaves our assault-weapons laws in effect whilst appellate proceedings continue,” Bonta tweeted. “We won’t give up defending these life-saving laws.”

Representatives for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and John Dillon, an attorney with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, did not straight away reply to requests for comment Tuesday.

The decision by Benitez, an appointee of President George W. Bush, gained nationwide attention when he called the state’s ban a “failed experiment” and stated the assault weapons that Californians are barred from using are not “bazookas, howitzers or machine guns” but rather “fairly ordinary, popular, present day rifles.” But it was his evaluation of an AR-15 to a Swiss army knife that obtained the most attention.

“Like the Swiss Army Knife, the famous AR-15 rifle is a best combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,” Benitez stated in the 94-page ruling.