On Friday the Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti signed a firearm magazine ban which will go into effect in 60 days. The new law was passed unanimously by the city council on July 28. This law is significantly different than most other magazine or gun bans we usually see proposed, much less passed, because it makes people criminals if they don’t hear about the law, and throw away or sell their currently perfectly legally possessed items.
There is no exception for ignorance of the law – just because it was legal last week doesn’t mean anything. The legal owner is now a criminal by virtue of the mayor’s signature. Well, one thing is for sure, we can rest easy knowing that serious crimes will no longer occur in L.A., and that innocent law abiding people won’t get caught up in this new law……
From guns.com:
“I am committed to reducing the gun violence in our city,” Garcetti said. “This ban is part of that larger effort. It will help keep our streets safer and help prevent the magnitude of mass shootings. We are sending a clear message – we will not wait for Washington to act, we are ready to act now.”
The ordinance, Council File 13-0068, bans the possession of any magazine capable of holding more than 10 cartridges inside the city limits. While state lawmakers enacted a similar prohibition in 1999 during the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, it allowed continued possession of mags already in circulation. The new Los Angeles law removes that protection.
People who currently possess such magazines, many for collectible firearms registered decades ago, have a 60 day window to remove them from the city, sell them to a legal gun dealer, or turn them into the Los Angeles Police Department.
The National Rifle Association, who challenged similar confiscatory bans in Sunnyvale And San Francisco, are pledging action on the City of Angles latest attempt at gun control.
“This ordinance will not prevent violent crime or mass shootings, but it does limit the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners who choose these magazines to defend themselves and their families,” reads a statement from the gun rights organization.
“As most gun owners already know, magazines holding more than ten rounds are standard equipment for many popular pistols and rifles, especially those that are selected for defensive purposes. These standard capacity magazines are possessed by millions of law-abiding Americans for a variety of lawful purposes, including self-defense,” the statement reads.
City Attorney Mike Feuer, who drafted the law at the request of the Council, contends that it is virtually lawsuit-proof.
“We have considered the possibility that the second revised draft ordinance might be challenged on the grounds that it is preempted by State law or violates the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Feuer told the Council in a memo prior to their vote. “We believe the second draft ordinance is legally defensible on both grounds.”