D.C. court renews magazine ban, plans to rehear case

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals on Thursday restored a city prohibition on gun magazines capable of holding over 10 rounds, until a rehearing of the case happens.

A majority of the court’s judges approved a request for an en banc review, in which the full court will rehear the case, after a three-judge panel struck down the ban as unconstitutional in March.

The request for the rehearing by the full court received support from Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, who received criticism for trying to set back a key gun rights case when she signed onto the Justice Department brief seeking to revisit the major pro-Second Amendment ruling from the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

In the case, United States and the District of Columbia v. Tyree Benson, Mr. Benson said he was unconstitutionally convicted for possessing a gun that had a magazine that could hold more than 10 rounds.

The appeals court’s ruling stated that “magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds of ammunition are ubiquitous in our country, numbering in the hundreds of millions, accounting for about half of the magazines in the hands of our citizenry, and they come standard with the most popular firearms sold in America today.”

Judge Joshua Deahl, who wrote on behalf of the two-judge majority on the three-judge panel, stated, “This appeal presents a Second Amendment challenge to the District’s ban on firearm magazines capable of holding ’more than 10 rounds of ammunition.’”

The court also reversed convictions against Mr. Benson for possessing an unregistered firearm, carrying a pistol without a license and unlawful possession of ammunition.

The ruling came when the Trump Justice Department is suing the District of Columbia over its stringent gun control laws. Ms. Pirro said in her court filing this month that the administration did not support the magazine ban but that the three-judge panel should have vacated all of Mr. Benson’s criminal convictions in the case. So she called for the case to be reheard.

The ruling in March was crucial to pro-Second Amendment advocates because it may establish a legal pathway for the Supreme Court to take up the case on semiautomatic firearms and magazine bans, an issue that has remained unresolved at the federal level.

Pro-Second Amendment groups criticized Ms. Pirro for requesting the full-judge review, because it could overturn or narrow the pro-gun rights decision.

“This move could stall or even eliminate the chances of the United States Supreme Court taking up the issue in the near future, particularly as similar cases from other states are already positioned for review,” the National Association for Gun Rights said in a statement.

Anyone violating Washington’s ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds can face up to three years in prison and a $12,500 fine. Common handguns, including the Glock 17 and 19, usually hold more than 15 rounds in a standard magazine. Some pistols have magazines with less capacity that comply with gun laws in certain municipalities.