“I don’t believe this judge would uphold a single gun law anywhere, ever,” said Robyn Thomas of the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Newsom and gun control advocates lambasted gun rights activists for seeking to put consequential cases before Benitez in a tactic that Newsom assailed as “judge-shopping.” Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said this year that it will rehear one of the cases on large-capacity magazines. The San Diego-based judge issued rulings in 20 that found the state’s ammunition-related restrictions unconstitutional both were contained in a 2016 ballot initiative that Newsom championed. Bush, Benitez has issued multiple decisions against California’s strong gun laws. “Newsom can stomp his feet all he wants, but the Constitution will win the day.”Īn appointee of President George W. Now that Judge Benitez ruled against Gavin Newsom, he is shamefully attacking a federal judge with politicized falsehoods because Newsom got a result he didn’t like,” Michel said in an emailed statement. “Gavin Newsom’s Department of Justice had the opportunity to present its facts in court - and failed to do so. Michel responded by accusing Newsom of “tyranny” of the kind Benitez’s family fled Cuba to escape. “This is an average case about average guns used in average ways for average purposes.”Ĭalifornia Rifle and Pistol Association President C.D. “This case is not about extraordinary weapons lying at the outer limits of Second Amendment protection,” he wrote. Mark my words.”īenitez wrote that California’s prohibition contravenes Second Amendment protections for “guns commonly owned by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” arguing that assault weapons should not be treated differently. “We need to call this federal judge out,” Newsom said.

Roger t benitez