By: Teresa Mull

California’s 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled the states ban on so-called “high-capacity” magazines is unconstitutional.

The Sacramento Bee reports:

In a blow to one of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature gun-control laws, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.

“Even well-intentioned laws must pass constitutional muster,” appellate Judge Kenneth Lee wrote on behalf of two of the three judges on the panel. “California’s near-categorical ban of (large-capacity magazines) strikes at the core of the Second Amendment, the right to armed self-defense. Armed self-defense is a fundamental right rooted in tradition and the text of the Second Amendment.”

At a press conference Friday, Newsom said he expects the state ban to survive, since local government restrictions on high-capacity magazines have overcome previous legal challenges.

According to The New York Times, “Chuck Michel, president and general counsel of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, called the decision ‘a major victory for the Second Amendment, both in California and across the country.’

“This is a huge win specifically for the right to possess these valuable self-defense tools,” he said on Friday. “But more generally, this case may present the Supreme Court with an opportunity to set things straight on the underlying issue of what the standard of review test should be when considering any Second Amendment challenge.”

Teresa Mull ([email protected]) is editor of Gunpowder Magazine.