The ink from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pen was barely dry on the recently passed legislation banning Glock handguns before several gun-rights groups joined to file a lawsuit challenging the ban.
On October 13, the Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), National Rifle Association (NRA) and Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed the lawsuit challenging the ban, just three days after Gov. Newsom—arguably America’s most anti-gun governor—signed the measure into law.
Under AB 1127, California firearm dealers will be prohibited from selling a broad class of popular and constitutionally protected semi-automatic handguns, including Glocks. It specifically bans the sale of “…any semi-automatic pistol with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted by hand or with common household tools…into a machinegun by the installation or attachment of a pistol converter as a replacement for the slide’s backplate without any additional engineering, machining, or modification of the pistol’s trigger mechanism.”
“These handguns are in common use; indeed, they are among the most popular firearms in the nation,” the filing in Jaynes v. Bonta explains. If the law takes effect, Californians “will have no practical way to acquire them”—a direct violation of the Second Amendment.
Brandon Combs, FPC president, said in a news release announcing the lawsuit that the law is an obvious violation of the Second Amendment rights of Californians.
“The Constitution does not allow elitist politicians to decide which constitutionally protected guns the people may own, and California doesn’t get to tell people that their rights end where Governor Newsom’s tyrannical, anti-Second Amendment politics begin,” Combs said. “Every American has a right to choose the tools they trust to defend their lives and liberty. We look forward to ending this insanely unconstitutional scheme just as we have many others.”
Bill Sack, SAF director of legal operations, said the move by California is just another in a long line of infringements
“Prior to AB 1127, Gen 3 Glock, and similar handguns built on the Glock platform, were available for commercial sale because they were grandfathered onto California’s handgun roster,” Sack said in a news release. “California is already subject to an injunction because the California Handgun Roster unconstitutionally bans handguns in common use for lawful purposes. Rather than heed the demands of the Second Amendment and their own courts, California lawmakers have responded by doubling down and expanding their handgun ban. We’ll see them in court.”
In a news item on its website, NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) wrote that the way the legislation is written means the ban applies to Glock-manufactured semiautomatic handguns and similar handguns built on a Glock platform.
“Our lawsuit argues that California’s ban on Glock-style handguns violates the Second Amendment,” the news item stated. “The U.S. Supreme Court has held that ‘common’ arms cannot be banned, and moreover, that handguns cannot be banned. California’s ban on many of the most popular handguns in America blatantly defies the Court’s precedent.”
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