SAF Files Brief Challenging Washington's Magazine Ban

Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in a federal court challenge of Washington state’s ban on so-called “large capacity magazines” have filed a response brief to motions for summary judgment. The case is known as Sullivan v. Ferguson and it was filed on June 3, 2022 in U.S. District Court.

SAF is joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc., Rainier Arms, LLC and a private citizen, Gabriella Sullivan. They are represented by attorneys David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson and William V. Bergstrom with Cooper & Kirk PLLC in Washington, D.C., Cody J. Wisniewski at the Mountain States Legal Foundation, and locally by Joel Ard at Ard Law Group.

Defendants are Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Washington State Patrol Chief John R. Batiste, King County Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall, Kitsap County Sheriff John Gese, Grays Harbor County Sheriff Rick Scott, King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion, Kitsap County Prosecutor Chad M. Enright and Grays Harbor County Prosecutor Norma Tillotson. 

The law was signed prior to last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Bruen, which set down new guidelines for adjudicating Second Amendment cases nationwide. As noted in the response brief, under Bruen, any law restricting activity that falls within the plain text of the Second Amendment is presumptively unconstitutional.

“Just days ago, federal Judge Roger Benitez ruled for the second time that California’s magazine capacity ban is unconstitutional, and Washington is in the same Ninth federal court circuit,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “I think both states’ unconstitutional magazine capacity bans are going to be overturned as the case moves up through the federal court system.”

“Washington cannot prove its law is consistent with a historical tradition of firearm regulation,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “and we don’t see any way that’s possible, since no such history exists. We’re confident of an ultimate victory in this case.”

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About the Second Amendment Foundation

The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 720,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

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