The magazine ban is one of several Washington gun control laws that has faced legal challenges in recent years

TJ Martinell
The Center Square Washington

A gun rights advocacy group is seeking summary judgment in its lawsuit against a Washington state law banning gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

In its motion for summary judgment, the Firearms Policy Coalition argued that the 2022 law banning “high capacity magazines” violates the Second Amendment, in part because it effectively amounts to a ban on firearms that use those magazines.

“Washington cannot get around the protection of the Second Amendment by banning magazines any more than it could by banning triggers or barrels,” the motion states.

Among the more recent court decision cited in the motion include the U.S. District Court case Barnett v. Raoul, in which a federal judge ruled against an Illinois state ban on certain magazines for violating the Second Amendment, as magazines fall under the definition of “arms.”

Another case cited was the U.S. Supreme Court decisions D.C. v. Heller and Caetano v. Massachusetts, which established that firearms could not be banned if they were in “common use at the time,” whereas “dangerous and unusual” weapons could face regulations.

The lawsuit was filed initially in June 2022 after Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5078 into law, which took effect in July of that year. The Alliance for Gun Responsibility later joined in the case as an intervenor-defendant.

The magazine ban is one of several Washington gun control laws that has faced legal challenges in recent years, including several lawsuits filed this year against the state’s ban on firearms defined as “assault weapons.” The lawsuit filed in federal court was denied a temporary injunction against the law, while a Thurston County Superior Court judge issued a similar decision that same month.

This report was first published by The Center Square Washington.