New Jersey – -(AmmoLand.com)- Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs Attorney Dan Schmutter reports the following to NJ gun owners:
[Last week] the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit released a major decision in the case Duncan v. Becerra holding that California’s ban on magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. Click here for a copy of the decision.
Recounting the history of firearms in America, the court found these magazines are commonly possessed by millions of law-abiding Americans for lawful purposes. The court explained that California’s ban strikes at the core of the Second Amendment right, hindering the fundamental right to possess a firearm for lawful self-defense.
Because of this, the court ruled that the magazine ban must be evaluated using the most severe constitutional test known as “strict scrutiny” and that the ban failed that test and must be stricken as unconstitutional.
What does this mean for New Jersey? While the decision does not directly affect New Jersey’s magazine ban, we do think it has the potential to influence the upcoming decision in ANJRPC’s own challenge to NJ’s very similar magazine ban. We are currently awaiting a decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in that case.
Today we brought the Duncan decision to the attention of the panel of Judges deciding our case. All of the reasoning in the Duncan decision applies equally to our case, and we are urging the Third Circuit to follow the example of the Ninth Circuit and rule the same way in our case.
Duncan v. Becerra Ruling
About Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs:The Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, Inc. is the official NRA State Association in New Jersey. Our mission is to implement all of the programs and activities at the state level that the NRA does at the national level. This mission includes the following: To support and defend the constitutional rights of the people to keep and bear arms. To take immediate action against any legislation at the local, state, and federal level that would infringe upon these rights. Visit: www.anjrpc.org