Supreme Court Rejects NRA's Bid to Block Sunnyvale Gun Law

Update, Wednesday, March 12: The Supreme Court announced this afternoon that Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, who handles emergency appeals from California and other state's in the 9th Circuit, rejected the National Rifle Association's bid for an injunction to block enforcement of Sunnyvale's ban on large-capacity firearms magazines.

The practical effect of Kennedy's ruling: Last week's decision by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte of San Jose, an order rejecting the NRA's challenge to the magazine ban and upholding the Sunnyvale law, will stand. The NRA, representing five Sunnyvale residents, argued that the ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition violates the Second Amendment-guaranteed right to bear arms.

Original post (Friday, March 7): The National Rifle Association has one more stop in its fight to block enforcement of Sunnyvale's ban on large-capacity firearms magazines. The gun group said Friday it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency injunction to suspend the voter-approved law while an appeals panel in San Francisco considers the case.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Whyte refused to grant a preliminary injunction against the ban on large magazines. The ruling allowed the provision to take effect on Thursday.

Whyte ruled (full order embedded below) that ownership of magazines that can accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition is "hardly central" to the Second Amendment's guarantee of the right to bear arms:

The right to possess magazines having a capacity to accept more than ten rounds lies on the periphery of the Second Amendment right, and proscribing such magazines is, at bare minimum, substantially related to an important government interest. No court has yet entered a preliminary injunction against a law criminalizing the possession of magazines having a capacity to accept more than ten rounds, nor has any court yet found that such a law infringes the Second Amendment. Upon the present record, this court declines to be the first. Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction is DENIED.

The magazine ban was part of Sunnyvale's Measure C, passed last November with 66 percent voter support. In addition to prohibiting large-capacity magazines, it requires residents to report lost or stolen firearms and to store weapons safely when they're not in the immediate possession of the owner. It further requires ammunition sellers to keep records of all sales.

Sunnyvale spokeswoman Jennifer Garnett said police would still take illegally posessed magazines without citing residents trying to turn them in.

"But let’s say an officer was called to someone’s home, and a large capacity magazine was found at their home," she said. "Then, yes, it’s legally possible they would be cited.”

It's a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or both.

Measure C prompted two lawsuits: the federal lawsuit before Judge Whyte that challenged the large-capacity magazine provision and a Santa Clara County Superior Court suit that says the law's other sections should be thrown out because they conflict with state law. There's been no ruling yet in the second case.

Former Sunnyvale Mayor Tony Spitaleri helped get Measure C on the ballot. He said he expected NRA-backed legal challenges to reach the Supreme Court.

"Every time we have a forum or anytime we talk about it, the first line out of their mouth is 'we're going to sue you,'" Spitaleri told KQED's Alex Emslie. "They act like a bunch of bullies."

After Whyte issued his order on Wednesday, NRA attorneys appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and asked for an emergency stay of his ruling. A three-judge panel rejected the emergency request on Thursday, leading to the promise to seek the stay from the Supreme Court.

Spitaleri isn't concerned that a stay will be granted, though, since two previous courts have come down in Sunnyvale's favor. And he looks forward to continuing the fight for what he calls sensible gun regulation, which he thinks can be won at the municipal level.

"The one thing that they can’t beat is the voter," Spitaleri said. "They can lobby the legislator, they can get them to change their minds, they can do all kinds of things on that level, but their money doesn’t have any effect on the regular voter in our community. To me that’s their weakness."

Attorneys representing the NRA-backed plaintiffs did not respond to requests for comment other than to say they may need more time to file with the Supreme Court, so that may come Monday.

We're still waiting to hear whether the high court will grant the stay. So: more later.

Here's Judge Ronald M. Whyte's order in Fyock et al. v. City of Sunnyvale: