Link to Opinion of the Court in Duncan v Becerra.
Opinion by United States Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee, joined by United States Circuit Judge Consuelo M. Callahan. Dissent by Chief United States District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, sitting with the Ninth Circuit by designation.
Both the majority and the dissent found that the statute imposed a burden on Second Amendment protected conduct. However, the majority proceeded under strict scrutiny and under that standard, found that the statute unconstitutionally burdened protected Second Amendment conduct. The dissent proceeded under intermediate scrutiny and under that lower standard found that the statute did not unconstitutionally burden protected Second Amendment conduct.
As the majority carefully points out, the statute fell because it was ridiculously broad and stated that a narrowly written statute, omitting common used magazines, could survive strict scrutiny.
This was a well written decision, that leaves the door open for California to write a new, more narrowly targeted statute. California retains the ability to carefully outlaw certain high capacity magazines, why the basic right of Californian’s to keep and bear arms is protected, including the right to retain and to purchase modest capacity magazines that have been long in existence.
This decision strikes the perfect balance between the State’s ability to legislate in the interest of public safety and the public’s right to keep and bear arms.
