Gun rights advocates scored a major courtroom victory this week after a Washington, D.C. appeals court struck down the city’s long standing ban on high capacity gun magazines. The decision marks another significant development in the ongoing national debate over the scope of the Second Amendment.
In a 2 to 1 ruling in the case Tyree Benson v. United States and the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals concluded that the city’s prohibition on magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds violates constitutional protections for the right to keep and bear arms.
The majority opinion focused heavily on how common these magazines are across the United States. According to the court, the widespread ownership of larger magazines places them firmly within the category of protected arms under the Second Amendment.
“Magazines capable of holding more than 10 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,” the court wrote.
The opinion continued by emphasizing that items commonly used by law abiding citizens cannot simply be banned by government decree.
“Because these magazines are arms in common and ubiquitous use by law abiding citizens across this country, we agree with Benson and the United States that the District’s outright ban on them violates the Second Amendment,” the ruling stated.
The case originated from a 2022 arrest involving Tyree Benson. Police charged Benson after discovering he was carrying a Glock 45 9mm handgun equipped with a 30 round magazine, which violated the District’s ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds.
The court’s majority concluded that the government’s argument for banning the magazines could not overcome the reality that millions of Americans legally own and use them.
Associate Judge Joshua Deahl, an appointee of President Trump, authored the majority opinion. The ruling was joined by Associate Judge Catharine Friend Easterly, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, giving the decision a somewhat bipartisan judicial backing.
However, the ruling was not unanimous.
Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby issued a dissent arguing that the majority did not fully address the specific magazine involved in the case. She noted that many commonly owned firearms use magazines holding 11, 15, or 17 rounds and suggested that extremely large magazines may still fall into the category of “dangerous and unusual” weapons that governments can regulate.
The legal battle may not be finished yet. Washington, D.C. officials could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision or request a rehearing before a larger panel of the appeals court.
For now, however, the ruling represents a significant win for Second Amendment supporters who argue that commonly owned firearm accessories deserve the same constitutional protection as the weapons themselves.