Washington State Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Large Capacity Ammo Magazines

The state’s highest court reversed a lower court ruling that declared unconstitutional a 2022 law banning the magazines.

An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at a gun shop in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 13, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Washington state’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to uphold a ban on detachable ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, with a majority of judges on the court saying the ban does not violate the Constitution or state laws.

In a 7-2 order, the state’s highest court reversed a lower court’s ruling and sided with the state in a lawsuit that was filed by Gator’s Custom Guns, a gun store based in the city of Kelso.

The lawsuit had challenged a 2022 state law that bans the sale, import, and manufacturing of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, oftentimes called high-capacity or large-capacity magazines. It does not bar the possession of those magazines at the time of the law’s passage.

The judges wrote that the law doesn’t “violate either the Washington or United States constitutional protection of the right to bear arms because large capacity magazines (LCMs) are not “arms” within the meaning of either constitutional provision, nor is the right to purchase LCMs an ancillary right necessary to the realization of the core right to possess a firearm in self-defense.”

Judge Charles Johnson said that under the law, people are still able to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms even if they’re limited to buying magazines that hold 10 or fewer rounds of ammunition.

“This regulation does not limit the number of bullets or magazines that may be purchased or possessed,” Johnson wrote in the opinion for the majority.

“By restricting only magazines of a capacity greater than 10, the statute effectively regulates the maximum capacity of magazines, leaving the weapon fully functional for its intended purpose. Thus, we are not convinced that the restriction here renders the right to bear arms in self-defense meaningless.”

Judges Sheryl Gordon McCloud and G. Helen Whitener dissented. They contended that the Second Amendment has broader protections than just arms, adding that the Constitution protects firearms for “lawful purposes” other than self-defense.

“Millions of people have chosen to feed ammunition into those commonly used firearms with magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds,” the two judges wrote. “It necessarily follows that the Second Amendment protects the arms-bearing conduct at issue here, that is, keeping and bearing operable semiautomatic firearms with commonly used magazines for self-defense and other lawful purposes—including in the home.”

The law was declared unconstitutional by Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor in April 2024 as he pointed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen that found gun regulations have to be consistent with the nation’s historical traditions around the regulation of firearms.

In response to the state Supreme Court decision, Democratic Washington Attorney General Nick Brown wrote on X that “today’s decision is right on the law and will save lives.”

“Large capacity magazines are used in the overwhelming majority of mass shootings, and reducing the toll of these senseless killings is vitally important,” he said. He didn’t point to data or evidence that higher capacity magazines are used more frequently in mass shootings.

Gun control group Everytown USA says that roughly 13 states have some form of ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington State. The District of Columbia also has a ban on magazines that hold 10 or more rounds, according to its police department.

A 2024 article released by the National Rifle Association (NRA), the most prominent gun rights group in the United States, said the terms “large capacity magazines” or “high-capacity magazines” are not precise definitions but usually rest on the 10-round threshold. It further argued that several court rulings have stipulated that larger capacity magazines should not be banned because numerous law-abiding citizens across the United States own them.