Appeals Court Upholds California’s High-Capacity Magazine Ban

A sales associate walks past semiautomatic rifles at Bullseye Sport gun shop in Riverside, Calif., on Dec. 9, 2015. Jae C. Hong/AP Photo

SAN DIEGO—A federal appeals court upheld on Nov. 30 California’s ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines, which a San Diego federal judge previously overturned and ruled as unconstitutional.

A divided Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled—by a 7-4 margin—that California’s ban “on legal possession of large-capacity magazines reasonably supported California’s effort to reduce the devastating damage wrought by mass shootings.”