The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus brief with the Washington State Supreme Court in a case challenging the state’s ban on so-called “large-capacity” magazines and its legal action against Gator’s Guns, a Washington state firearms retailer. The case is known as State of Washington v. Gator’s Custom Guns, Inc.

Washington banned magazines capable of holding more than ten cartridges in 2022. There is no reference to magazine capacity or prohibitions of any kind regarding firearms or their components in Article I, Section 24 of the state constitution, which protects the right of individual citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves, or the state. Neither is there any such limitation in the federal constitution’s Second Amendment, which was incorporated to the states via the 14th Amendment by the U.S. Supreme Court in SAF’s 2010 victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago.

SAF is represented by attorneys Joel B. Ard, Ard Law Group, in Kingston, Wash., and Edward Andrew Paltzik, Meredith Lloyd and Serge Krimnus, Bochner PLLC, in New York, N.Y.

“This prohibition is in direct conflict with the Second Amendment and the Washington State constitution,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb stated. “By imposing this ban, the Legislature, Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson have penalized Evergreen State citizens for no other reason than to create the false impression they have taken action against the state’s growing violent crime problem, which happened on their watch. This ban cannot be allowed to stand.”

“Washington’s assault on standard capacity magazines should be given no quarter,” said SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut. “Our brief demonstrates that there are no historical analogues that the State can point to in order to defend its ban on these magazines. SAF has several lawsuits across the country fighting these unconstitutional bans and will advance arguments against these bans wherever possible.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.