COWLITZ COUNTY, Wash. — A state Supreme Court commissioner ordered that Washington state's high-capacity magazine ban will remain in effect while a legal challenge against the new law makes its way through the court system.
Washington's law banning high-capacity magazines has been the subject of several legal actions in recent weeks.
The high-capacity magazine ban was first overturned by a Cowlitz County judge who ruled that the law itself was unconstitutional. This imposed an injunction on the law for a short time, meaning the ban was effectively overturned in the state of Washington. Within 90 minutes, a judge granted the Washington State Attorney General's Office a temporary stay on that injunction, meaning the high-capacity magazine ban went back into effect.
Thursday's decision from state Supreme Court Commissioner Michael E. Johnston kept the stay in place, and it will remain so while the legal challenges against the high-capacity magazine ban are being decided.
Johnston ruled that those in opposition of the law "failed to persuasively show" that the ban should be overturned while the ultimate legality of the law is decided. The commissioner also considered the potential harms that could come from lifting the stay and allowing the magazines to be sold in the meantime.
Washington's ban on high-capacity magazines first went into effect on July 1, 2022. The ban prohibits the sale of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, along with the manufacturing, distribution or import of high-capacity magazines in Washington state.
The bill does not criminalize the possession of high-capacity magazines but instead focuses on the suppliers. Violating the law could result in a gross misdemeanor.
In September of 2023, the Washington AG's office filed a lawsuit against Gator's Custom Guns for continuing to sell high-capacity magazines. In response, the gun store owner challenged the law in court.
Other lawsuits have been filed regarding this legislation. In December 2022, Ferguson also filed a lawsuit against a gun store in Federal Way for selling high-capacity magazines after the ban went into effect months before. As a result, the store was ordered to pay $3 million for the illegal sale.