City of Los Angeles Bans Possession of High-Cap Magazines
Don’t drive through the City of Los Angeles (or fly into LAX) if you have a magazine that holds more than ten (10) rounds. In its infinite wisdom, the Los Angeles City Council approved a new law that makes mere possession of a full-capacity magazine illegal EVEN if it was obtained legally, in compliance with all state and federal laws. This, by definition, is an “ex post facto” law — a statute that makes a crime out of what was considered legal before, requiring citizens to take affirmative action or else be subject to criminal penalties. Possession of a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds will now be a misdemeanor in the City of Los Angeles, as soon as Mayor Eric Garcetti signs the measure into law, which he has promised to do.
Once codified into law, the magazine ban gives residents only two months to comply. Residents will have 60 days to surrender their magazines to the police or remove their magazines from the city. The author of the law, City Councilman Paul Krekorian, declared that the new law will be enforced aggressively by the Los Angeles Police Department.
WARNING — Do Not Transport High-Capacity Magazines Through Los Angeles
We caution all readers that they should not bring any firearm magazines that hold more than ten rounds into the Los Angeles city limits. Even if you are just “driving through” on the way to another location, you could be arrested for possession. Likewise, do not ship magazines into Los Angeles, and do not fly into Los Angeles city airports (such as LAX) with high-capacity magazines in your possession on in your luggage. Even if we were just transferring in Los Angeles from one flight to another, we would not carry high-capacity magazines into that airport zone.
Under current California state law it is illegal to buy, sell, manufacture, or import magazines that hold more than ten rounds. However, statewide (except in San Francisco, and Sunnyvale and soon Los Angeles) it is still completely legal to possess such magazines if they were acquired legally BEFORE the high-cap magazine ban went into effect. In other words, possession of “pre-ban” high-cap magazines is “grandfathered” in California — you just can’t buy or sell them anymore within California.
Is the Los Angeles Magazine Ban Constitutional?
The new Los Angeles law can be attacked on various legal grounds. First it can be challenged as an “Ex Post Facto” law. Second, the law should be invalid under the pre-emption doctrine, since regulation of firearm magazines is already controlled by state statute. The pre-emption doctrine recognizes that a state cannot allow municipalities to enact myriad conflicting laws on the same subject matter. Unfortunately, an NRA legal challenge to municipal magazine bans in San Francisco and Sunnyvale failed on Second Amendment grounds. It would have made more sense to have attacked those city-specific regulations on the basis of state pre-emption. Unfortunately, the NRA’s litigation failure will make it more difficult to overturn the Los Angeles magazine ordinance.
LAX Photo By JadeLux (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
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And they do so with the blessing from the SCOTUS. “The states retain the right to reasonable legislation”. Yet another gun law in the Kingdom of California that the NRA will do NOTHING about!
All gun laws are “ex post facto” criminalizing a (formerly) legal object. NY has done the same thing with magazines/clips with the so-called “S.A.F.E.) act. Nothing but liberal sewers influenced by Bloomberg money.
If we had proper checks into applications for gun posession then states would not have to limit magazine size.
At least someone is attempting something of a limit to help public safety.
Ridiculous law that protects only the criminal, like all gun laws that restrict law abiding citizens. . Democrats banned them here in ny. First tried to go to no more then 7! Ill tell ya….
I feel so Safe now.
Give’em a break; 30 round magazines cause cancer in LA. Just like copper solvent and freedom.
Back to revolvers soon…
Ask Jerry Miculek how to shoot 12 shots in under 3 seconds ?
Ask Ruger or Smith & Wesson when they will make a special L.A. 11 rounds revolver in 357 ?
Anyway, when you shoot an Ingram, 10 or 32 rounds will always be only one trigger pull…
God bless you from Switzerland
Good old Califorkinia, One would assume voters would start to wonder why liberal cities seem to have the highest crime rate regardless of their strict gun laws..You would assume they would wonder why their debt and unemployment are usually the highest in the nation.. But that is non of my business
Ray
David Lawson wrote:
If we had proper checks into applications for gun posession then states would not have to limit magazine size.
At least someone is attempting something of a limit to help public safety.”
I’m guessing your ether an anti gun troll or your not from around these parts
It seems like the appointed officials are in cahoots with the criminals “helping”them by infringing the citizens’ rights;or probably the measure does not have anything to do with “public safety” but a globalist agenda…
To Gary Eliseo.
I am a target shooter who understands the power of a rifle and would like undesirables to not have possession of firearms or explosives.
Do you think anyone who doesent feel as you do is somehow un-american??
David David David. Even if you were a legitimate target shooter, do you not see the bigger picture here? LA doesn’t get to rewrite the constitution.
To David Lawson:
If you think that this will prevent “undesirables” from committing harm or from even obeying a 10 round magazine limit, you are naive.
I don’t think you are un-American, I just think you possess the lack of reasoning to understand that people who will break the law will simply not obey the laws. The logic speaks for itself.
You might want to ask yourself what your opinion might be when these self righteous lawmakers consider you an “undesirable” for simply being a “target shooter”.
Just make sure the cops have magazines that are 10 rounds or smaller. The make them go back to revolvers and shotguns, no more AR-15s in the trunk. Then wait for the next bank robbery there with AK-47s, body armor.
Last time I looked, there are plenty of laws against misusing firearms.
If a miscreant is willing to violate the existing laws prohibiting mayhem, he’s not likely to be stopped by another law prohibiting the capacity of mag in the weapon itself.
Once again, LA puts its emphasis on show business and neglects reality.
Ha! Everyone knows the gangstas will be at the front of the line to turn them in