Kelso gun shop appeals to nation’s high court. Will SCOTUS save us from Democrats’ anti-gun agenda?

A new chapter has begun in the legal saga of Gator’s Custom Guns. The Kelso gun store has filed a writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court to overturn a 2022 Washington State law that banned “high capacity” magazines carrying more than 10 rounds.

Gator’s initial legal challenge was successful when Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor struck down the law last April on Second Amendment grounds. However, the far-left Washington State Supreme Court immediately put a pause on Bashor’s decision before subsequently ruling in favor of the state.

In State v. Gator’s Custom Guns, the court made the obtuse claim that magazine capacity could be restricted because magazines are merely an accessory to a firearm and thus the state law did not violate the 2^nd Amendment’s right to bear arms. Justice Charles Johnson wrote in the majority opinion that “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.”

What does precedent say?

If Gator’s petition is granted, they should have a much more sympathetic audience in front of what has been a pro-gun rights U.S. Supreme Court.

The gun store cites SCOTUS’s 2022 landmark Bruen decision, which protects the possession of firearms “in common use at the time.” A 10-round magazine would certainly seem to fit that classification. In fact, a study released last year by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) found that the vast majority of magazines in the United States hold 11 rounds or more.

The report concluded that the “national standard for magazine capacity for America’s gun owners is greater than 10 rounds.”

If the case is heard by the Supreme Court, it could present a seismic shift in gun law across the United States. Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia currently have magazine bans similar to Washington’s.

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