[SFChronicle] For one week, high-capacity ammunition magazines were legal in California. Hundreds of thousands may have been sold.A ban on the sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds has been a linchpin of California’s efforts to prevent mass shootings for nearly two decades.
But in the span of a single week after a federal judge temporarily set aside the prohibition, hundreds of thousands of the devices, if not millions, made their way into the hands of state residents, industry leaders say.
The run on high-capacity magazines from March 29 to April 5 — so fervid that online traffic from gun enthusiasts around the state crashed at least one retail website — was hailed as “Freedom Week” by the California Rifle and Pistol Association and criticized as an alarming safety breach by gun-control advocates.
The ruling in San Diego by Judge Roger Benitez, who said the sales ban on the magazines violated the Second Amendment, was stayed last week pending a challenge to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. But not before it triggered a celebratory frenzy as dealers courted customers in California, many offering discounts amid a mass shift of inventory to the Golden State.
California’s ban took effect in 2000, making it illegal to buy or sell magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds. Another law, Proposition 63 — sponsored by then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and approved by the voters in 2016 — would require anyone who owns the magazines to get rid of them.
But the NRA has tied up the measure in court, winning another favorable ruling from Judge Benitez. That means that if someone purchased a high-capacity magazine during the recent brief window, they not only can keep it but use it at a California gun range.
State residents have in the past two decades found other ways to get ahold of the magazines. According to police, California residents have been known to purchase the devices in Nevada and drive them back over the border. Magazines don’t carry serial numbers, so tracking them is nearly impossible.