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California Age Limit Firearms Law Authored by State Senator Portantino Ruled Unconstitutional

Published on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 | 6:08 am
 
File photo of a ghost gun seized in 2020 by Pasadena police. (Credit: Pasadena Police Department)

A California law authored by Pasadena representative State Senator Anthony Portantino that prohibits anyone under 21 years of age from purchasing semi-automatic firearms and limits all other gun purchases to one purchase per month, has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in California.

According to the May ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the age limit law violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The ruling stated the law is almost a total ban on semiautomatic centerfire rifles for young adults.

“America would not exist without the heroism of the young adults who fought and died in our revolutionary army,” Judge Ryan Nelson wrote. “Today we reaffirm that our Constitution still protects the right that enabled their sacrifice: the right of young adults to keep and bear arms.”

At a recent press conference, Portantino expressed disappointment at the ruling and remarked that the shootings at Buffalo, New York and Uvalde were perpetrated by 18-year-olds who legally acquired their semi-automatic rifles.

“The judge brought his own agenda into the conversation. That’s why we have to elect a president who appoints judges that don’t bring such a conservative perspective to something that kills people,” Portantino said.

A spokesman for Attorney General Rob Bonta said his office is reviewing the decision. In a statement, the spokesperson said Bonta’s office is committed to “defending California’s common sense gun laws.”

Portantino has a long history of advocating for ways to address gun violence in the country.

During his time in the Assembly, the Senator’s successful legislation banned the open carry of handguns and rifles in California.

In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Portantino’s SB 172 which provides significant provisions related to firearms storage by broadening criminal storage crimes, adding criminal storage offenses to those offenses that can trigger a 10-year firearm ban, and creating an exemption to firearm loan requirements for the purposes of preventing suicide.

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