LONGVIEW — The Washington State Supreme Court upheld Monday morning a temporary legal pause preventing the sale of large-capacity magazines in Washington after a Cowlitz County judge in April found the state ban violated the U.S. and Washington constitutions in lawsuits involving Kelso gun store Gator’s Custom Guns.
The motion to change the pause, filed by Gator’s Custom Guns’ attorneys, has been denied, meaning the sale of high-capacity magazines — those holding more than 10 bullets — remains illegal in Washington as the case waits to be heard by the state Supreme Court.
Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor’s April 8 decision opened a legal window for about an hour to purchase the after-market accessories until Washington State Commissioner Michael E. Johnston granted the state’s request for the pause, called a stay in legal terms, on Bashor’s ruling.
The state Supreme Court will hear the overall case — which will determine the future of the 2022 state high-capacity magazine ban — after granting direct review and bypassing the Washington State Court of Appeals in June.
Why is the pause continuing?
The court reviewed whether to alter the stay on Bashor’s ruling on July 10.
According to the order, the court is continuing the ban because there are debatable issues within the case; many courts have upheld the constitutionality of high-capacity ammunition magazine bans even under Bruen, which ruled in 2022 there is a constitutional right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense.
Bashor’s decision largely stands on Bruen, the order says, while in his own decision argues gun laws have to be “consistent with this nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”
There have also been new developments in gun rights decisions since Bashor’s ruling. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Rahimi that the possession of firearms by people subject to domestic-violence restraining orders should remain prohibited.
The court states that not imposing the ban would put lives at risk, and did not agree that imposing the ban injures Washingtonians’ constitutional rights because the constitutionality of the law is still being questioned.
Gator’s Custom Guns continued selling high-capacity magazines after the state ban took effect in 2022, and the Kelso store and the state of Washington initiated legal actions against each other.
The Washington State Attorney General’s Office accused the store of violating the Consumer Protection Act by selling thousands of large-capacity magazines to the public. At the same time, Gator’s Custom Guns claimed in their lawsuit that the law infringed on owner Walter Wentz’s second amendment rights.
