17 STATES TELL FEDERAL COURT THEY SUPPORT MAG BAN

Attorneys General from Washington D.C. and 17 states have signed on to support California's endangered "no excuses" ban on standard capacity magazines capable of holding 10 or more rounds.

The arbitrary ban in the Golden State was torpedoed last month by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit whose majority sided with pro-gun plaintiffs rather than the California Department of Justice, ruling the prohibition unconstitutional. While California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed further appeals in an effort to keep the ban afloat, like-minded anti-gun AGs from around the country are showing up to help bail legal water.

"The Constitution allows states to implement reasonable gun safety laws to keep their residents safe," said Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who is leading the effort. 'Restricting large-capacity magazines is a common-sense reform that California, the District of Columbia, and other states have adopted to reduce the number of injuries and deaths resulting from the gun violence that plagues our nation. Our coalition of state Attorneys General will continue to defend the right of states to make public safety decisions that protect our residents."

The friend-of-the-court brief filed by Racine in support of the ban was joined by AGs from Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. For those following along at home, only eight of those 17 states have enacted their own bans on the sale or ownership of "large-capacity" magazines.

The 20-page amicus brief from Racine and his group of largely blue state AGs points out that five other circuits have taken up challenges to magazine prohibitions and concluded that the concept was lawful. Should the latest 9th Circuit ruling withstand Becerra's current attempt at rehearing by the Circuit-- which is increasingly staffed with judges nominated to the bench by President Trump-- the resulting split could easily set the stage for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter, which would have nationwide repercussions.

It is estimated that no less than 115 million magazines capable of holding more than 10 cartridges are in circulation in the U.S., with that figure climbing every day.