Miller v. Bonta
Miller v. Bonta is a pending court case before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concerning California's assault weapon ban, the Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA). Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California struck down the ban in a June 5, 2021, ruling. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued a stay of the ruling on June 21, 2021, leaving the ban in place as appeals were litigated. The case was known as Miller v. Becerra before Rob Bonta  succeeded Xavier Becerra as Attorney General of California in April 2021. Background. California's gun laws are among the strictest in the country. The Roberti–Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA) banned the ownership and transfer of specific models of firearms that were categorized as assault weapons. Signed by Governor George Deukmejian, a Republican, it was the first law passed in response to the Cleveland Elementary School shooting in Stockton that year. It inspired similar bans in six other states and the District of Columbia, as well as the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 that expired in  2004. In the years since, assault weapons banned by these measures have been used in school shootings in the United States. An amendment to AWCA took effect in 2000, banning assault weapons based on an alternative set of characteristics instead of by model. However, gun owners have been able to work around the law by making minor adjustments to the weapons or purchasing "California-compliant" rifles of all types. In August 2000, the AWCA survived a state constitutional challenge in "Kasler v. Lockyer" before the California Supreme Court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in "Nordyke v. King" that  the Second Amendment, which protects the right to bear arms, does not apply to state and local governments. However, the U.S. Supreme Court later ruled in "McDonald v. City of Chicago" that it does apply to all levels of government, making it possible for the act to be challenged in federal court. Rulings by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, headquartered in San Diego, can have implications across the entire Ninth Circuit, by far the largest in the country. Judge Roger Benitez was nominated to the court by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the  Senate with 98 votes in favor and one against, despite overwhelming opposition by a committee of the American Bar Association. Benitez has overturned several California gun control laws. In "Duncan v. Becerra" and "Rhode v. Becerra", he struck down portions of 2016 California Proposition 63 that prohibited possession of high-capacity magazines and required background checks for ammunition purchases, respectively. The state appealed both decisions; the ruling in "Duncan v. Bonta" was reversed by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Gun control advocates say the San Diego court's unique process for transferring related cases to a single judge , out of the court's more than a dozen judges, has encouraged gun rights advocates to engage in forum shopping. Legal proceedings. District court. On August 15, 2019, James Miller, a board member of the San Diego County Gun Owners, sued Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the Director of the California Bureau of Firearms, alleging that the ban was an unconstitutional restriction of Second Amendment rights. He was joined by the San Diego County Gun Owners Political Action Committee, California Gun Rights Foundation, Second Amendment Foundation, and Firearms Policy Coalition, along with three other San Diego County residents who said  they legally own rifles or pistols but are unable to use high-capacity magazines in them due to the law. The case was argued before Senior Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. The plaintiffs argued that the definition of "assault weapon" is politically motivated and prevents law-abiding citizens from obtaining and using firearms for self-defense, hunting, and other legal purposes. Becerra's office argued that the ban was necessary because assault weapons are more lethal and are disproportionately used in crimes and mass shootings. Benitez denied requests by Everytown for  Gun Safety and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to file "amicus" briefs in favor of the state. In April 2021, Rob Bonta took over the defense when he succeeded Becerra as Attorney General of California. On June 4, 2021, Benitez ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, declaring the AWCA to be unconstitutional and issuing a permanent injunction against enforcing specific provisions of the law. He opened the 94-page ruling by likening an AR-15 style rifle to a Swiss Army knife as "a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment" and describing the AR-15  as "good for both home and battle", citing "District of Columbia v. Heller" and "United States v. Miller". He described the ban as a failed experiment and reasoned that the ban covers weapons that are commonly used for legal purposes. In dismissing the need for a ban on assault rifles, he cited the prevalence of stabbing deaths in the state compared to murders by rifle and claimed, without evidence, that "More people have died from the COVID-19 vaccine than mass shootings in California." Upon Bonta's request, Benitez granted a stay of the injunction for 30 days pending appeal. Appellate  court. On June 10, 2021, Attorney General Bonta and Bureau of Firearms Director Luis Lopez appealed the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On June 21, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Barry G. Silverman, Jacqueline Nguyen, and Ryan D. Nelson granted their request to extend the stay as appeals are litigated. Mayor Sam Liccardo of San Jose has invited other California cities to join an "amicus" brief supporting the state's appeal. Another challenge to the AWCA, "Rupp v. Bonta", has already been appealed to the Ninth Circuit court from the U.S. District Court for  the Central District of California. If an unrelated pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court, "New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen", is decided broadly, it could potentially affect how gun control cases such as "Miller" and "Rupp" are decided. On November 30, 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court restored the state ban on high-capacity magazines in "Duncan v. Bonta", suggesting that the court will also reverse the lower court ruling in "Miller v. Bonta". Reaction. State officials, including Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, issued strongly worded statements opposing Judge Benitez's ruling. Newsom took  particular issue with Judge Benitez comparing an AR-15 style rifle to a Swiss Army knife in the first sentence of his opinion. Bonta noted that the ruling had come down days after a mass shooting in San Jose, although the semiautomatic pistols used in that shooting had not been banned. The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence called it insulting that the ruling was handed down on National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and Gun Owners of America, celebrated the ruling. In December 2021, Governor Newsom again cited Judge  Benitez's Swiss Army knife comparison in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in "Whole Woman's Health v. Jackson" that effectively upheld enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act. He called for the California State Legislature to apply the act's framework to gun control, by introducing a private right of action against manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of assault weapon or ghost gun supplies in the state.