(Patriot.Buzz) – In a huge win for gun rights advocates fighting against unconstitutional state prohibitions across the country, a patriotic judge ruled that Washington’s ban on high-capacity magazines violated both the Washington state and U.S. Constitutions.
In Cowlitz County, Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor’s ruling prompted an immediate injunction against enforcing the law, which has been in effect since 2022 and forbids magazines holding over 10 rounds.
However, the case took a swift turn as Attorney General Bob Ferguson asked the state Supreme Court to step in, leading Commissioner Michael Johnston to issue an emergency stay.
This decision reinstated the ban temporarily under claims of “the debatable nature of the factual and legal issues raised in this case, and the public safety issues concerning the proliferation of large capacity magazines.”
Judge Bashor’s ruling drew from the 2022 Bruen decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that says firearm regulations should remain “consistent with the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
Bashor said that the lack of historical regulations similar to the current law was a failure on the state’s part to justify the ban under Bruen’s stipulations.
Shooting down the state’s allegations, Bashor wrote, “There was no appetite to limit gun rights by the Founders. Though the specific technology available today may not have been envisioned, the Founders expected technological advancements.”
Attorney General Ferguson challenged Bashor’s judgment and advocated for the constitutionality of the high-capacity magazine ban and its role in “addressing mass shootings.”
“Every court in Washington and across the country to consider challenges to a ban on the sale of high-capacity magazines under the U.S. or Washington Constitution has either rejected that challenge or been overruled. This law is constitutional,” he said.
Judge Bashor further added that “[t]he Washington legislature has found that gun violence and mass shootings are on the increase. The problem, however, is not an unprecedented societal concern.”
In turn, Ferguson’s emergency motion claims there would be potential consequences even if the law got briefly halted. He warned there could be a possible surge in high-capacity magazine distribution within the state.
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