Court of Appeals BLOCKS California judge's ruling that state's assault weapons ban violates Second Amendment right to bear arms
- Court of Appeals blocked federal judge's ruling of assault weapons being deemed unconstitutional in California
- Judge Roger Benitez had said AR-15 rifle is like a Swiss Army Knife and is right combination for self-defense
- The state Attorney General Rob Bonta had vowed to appeal the decision
- Benitez had already agreed to a 30-day stay of his ruling pending appeals
- The stay will now remain in effect until further order of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
- California's assault weapon ban has been intact since 1989 after an elementary school shooting by Patrick Edward Purdy with an AK-47
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has put on hold a California judge's ruling that the state's assault weapons ban is unconstitutional.
Federal Judge Roger T. Benitez earlier this month ruled that the state's ban on certain semi-automatic rifles violates Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Benitez had already agreed to a 30-day stay of his ruling, which was further extended Monday by a three-judge panel with the Ninth Circuit appeals court.
'The stay shall remain in effect until further order of this court,' the justices wrote, noting another case challenging the ban was pending.
Benitez's June 4 decision described California's ban as unconstitutional and defended the right of Americans to own semi-automatic rifles.
'Guns and ammunition in the hands of criminals, tyrants and terrorists are dangerous; guns in the hands of lawabiding responsible citizens are better,' he argued.
A court has put on hold an overturning of California's assault weapons ban
California's Attorney General Rob Bonta, who appealed the overturning, tweeted: 'This leaves our assault weapons laws in effect while appellate proceedings continue.
Judge Robert Benitez ruled against a federal judge's decision of assault weapons being deemed unconstitutional in California
'We won't stop defending these life-saving laws.'
California, one of a handful of US states that bar assault weapons, passed its ban in response to a 1989 mass shooting at a school that involved an AK-47.
On January 17, 1989, Patrick Edward Purdy shot and killed five schoolchildren and injured 32 others using an AK-47 at Cleveland Elementary School.
The court battle comes as gun violence surges across the United States -- and after a disgruntled, heavily-armed California public transit worker shot and killed nine people in May.
Mass shootings have also taken place in Florida, Indiana, California, Colorado and Georgia, in a surge in violence that President Joe Biden has branded an 'epidemic.'
'Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,' Benitez wrote in his decision.
'Good for both home and battle... Yet, the State of California makes it a crime to have an AR-15 type rifle. Therefore, this Court declares the California statutes to be unconstitutional.'
California Attorney General Rob Bonta made it known he was going to appeal Benitez's ruling to fight to defend what he considers 'life-saving laws'
California Governor Gavin Newsome (pictured) is backing Attorney General Rob Banta in his appeal to get Judge Robert Benitez's ruling overturned again
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One pro-Second Amendment group, The Firearms Policy Coalition promised to oppose the appeal. They feel the state's leadership is seeking to protect the unconstitutional values.
'The first duty of our federal courts is to uphold the Constitution and protect the People's fundamental rights enshrined therein,' their statement read.
'But today, as it has too many times before, the fanatically anti-Second Amendment Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals elected to disregard that fundamental duty, ignore the text and public meaning of our Constitution, and fail the very People they swore an oath to serve.'
