TOPEKA – (June 17, 2021) – Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt yesterday joined a coalition of state attorneys general asking a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court's ruling striking down a California law banning certain rifles.
Schmidt joined 21 states in asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit to keep in place a federal district court ruling that struck down a California law banning the manufacture, sale and possession of certain modern rifles, namely the AR-15 platform.
“Calling modern rifles ‘assault rifles’ is a misnomer – they are most often used by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes like personal protection or target and sport shooting. There is nothing sinister about citizens keeping or bearing a modern rifle,” the attorneys general wrote in their court filing. “Law-abiding citizens keeping and bearing modern rifles benefit public safety, counter-balance the threat of illegal gun violence, and help make our homes and streets safer.”
Earlier in June, a federal judge struck down California’s law, ruling it violated the Second Amendment. California’s attorney general is now appealing and has requested an emergency stay.
A copy of the court filing in the case of Miller v. Bonta can be found at https://bit.ly/35qezoG.