Herring Joins Amicus Brief Defending Ability of States to Enact Gun Control Laws

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has joined a group of 18 state attorneys general supporting the ability of states to pass gun control laws.  The Augusta Free Press has the story here.

Herring and his colleagues filed the brief in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Duncan v. Bacerra, a lawsuit filed by a group of California gun owners and VSSA's sister organization, the California Rifle and Pistol Association, that challenges California’s ban on high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.  VSSA previously joined an amicus brief with law enforcement groups and other state and local firearms rights groups supporting Duncan's challenge to the law.   In August, a three judge panel of the 9th Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court striking down the ban.  As expected, California appealed the decision to an en banc panel of the appeals court.

Herring is looking to protect the gun control laws passed in Virginia earlier this year:

“Virginia and every other state has the right and the responsibility to protect their communities by enacting commonsense gun safety measures that will save lives and reduce gun violence,” Herring said. “This year, with a new General Assembly, Virginia was finally able to pass new, widely supported gun violence prevention laws like expanded background checks, a one-handgun-a-month law, a “red flag” law and more. I will continue to fight in court alongside my colleagues to make sure that states have the right to pass their own gun safety measures.”

Joining Herring are the usual suspects you would expect - the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia.