California Democrats are launching a longshot legal maneuver to protect a gun-control law that a federal appeals court declared unconstitutional.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D.) requested an "en banc" review of a three-judge panel that ruled the state's ban on the possession of any magazine holding more than 10 rounds, even those Californians previously bought legally, ran afoul of the Second Amendment. Such a review would convene every judge in the Ninth Circuit. Chuck Michel, president of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, said gun-rights advocates are willing to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court if Becerra succeeds in his appeal.
"This case may present the opportunity to set things straight on the broader issue of what the standard of review test should be when considering any Second Amendment challenge," he told the Washington Free Beacon. "The Supreme Court seems inclined to do away with the complicated subjective tests that many courts have wrongly applied in Second Amendment cases, in favor of a clearer, more objective ‘originalist' approach that considers the text, history, and tradition of a law to determine what infringements might be tolerated."
Becerra said in a statement that he disagreed with the initial ruling and will "continue to use every tool we have to defend the constitutionality of our laws."