The Battle Against Washington’s Magazine Ban Continues Forward

The Firearms Policy Coalition argued that the 2022 law banning “high capacity magazines” violates the Second Amendment because it effectively amounts to a ban on firearms that use those magazines.

Now, the firearms rights group are seeking a summary judgment in its lawsuit against a Washington state law banning gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

Primary in the motion for summary are numerous results from federal rulings concerning similar laws in states across the country. In one such ruling the Supreme Court established that the Second Amendment absolutely “protects the possession and use of weapons that are in common use.” In Heller v. District of Columbia, the same case in which it established that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms, the Supreme Court explained that the only bans on types of arms that are permissible are those that target “dangerous and unusual” arms, and arms “in common use” cannot be either.

In addition, the Supreme Court reiterated this principle in McDonald v. City of Chicago, explaining that once it is determined that the Second Amendment “applies” to a particular type of arm, it follows that “citizens must be permitted to use” that type of arm for self-defense.

One of the many faults in the Washington State magazine ban is that there is technically no such thing as a "high capacity magazine." The magazines which operate in a firearm were designed specifically for that firearm and therefore cannot be deemed "high capacity," but instead as standard capacity, as that is how they were designed.

Beyond that, it has been ruled many times over that these weapons are of common use and restricting them in any fashion would be considered an affront to the second amendment.

The Firearms Policy Coalition's lawsuit was initially filed in June of '22 after Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5078 into law, taking effect in July of that year.