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Attorney General Madigan Files Amicus Brief in Defense of California Law Banning Large-capacity Ammunition Magazines


large capacity guns
(Source: Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence)

Brief Argues Second Amendment Leaves States Room to Implement Reasonable Firearm Regulations

Chicago —(ENEWSPF)—October 21, 2017

By: Office of Attorney General Madigan

Attorney General Lisa Madigan and a coalition of 12 other attorneys general yesterday filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to uphold a California ban on the possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines for guns. The attorneys general urges the court to overturn a lower court’s order preliminarily enjoining the law and argues that, based on Supreme Court precedent, nothing in the Second Amendment prevents states from enacting reasonable gun regulations.

The California law bans magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. These large-capacity magazines, or LCMs, are disproportionally used by mass shooters to kill and injure large numbers of people quickly, including law enforcement officers.

In the brief, the attorneys general argue:

“Both common sense and empirical evidence suggest that prohibiting LCMs will reduce the number of crimes in which LCMs are used and reduce the lethality and devastation of gun crime when it does occur. At the same time, there is no proof that LCMs are necessary – or even commonly used – for self-defense.”

The brief underscores that Supreme Court precedent supports a state’s ability to reform gun laws:

“In dismissing California’s reliance on the empirical and anecdotal evidence before it, the court below applied a cramped and overly demanding standard of what constitutes substantial evidence and eliminated the deference to which California’s predictive judgments are entitled,” the brief says.

Joining Madigan in filing today’s brief are the attorneys general of: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the amicus brief can be found here.

Source: www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov


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