California on Thursday appealed a judge’s ruling that overturned the state’s decades-old ban on assault weapons, claiming it was an outlier to at least six other federal decisions and an attempt to get it in front of the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed the three-page appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco following U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez’s decision last Friday.
Bonta argued the 32-year-old law was needed “to protect the safety of Californians,” according to The Los Angeles Times.
He will ask the court for a stay so the ban will remain in effect during the appeals process.
Benitez ruled that the ban violated the Second Amendment and deprived law-abiding gun owners of common firearms readily available in other states. “Under no level of heightened scrutiny can the law survive,” he said in his decision.
JUDGE RULES CALIFORNIA’S DECADES-OLD ASSAULT WEAPON BAN VIOLATES SECOND AMENDMENT
He also controversially compared the AR-15 rifle to a Swiss Army knife, calling it “a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle.”
San Francisco General trauma surgeon Dr. Andre Campbell disagreed with Benitez’s assessment.