Lawsuit Challenges California’s Assault Weapons Ban

SAN DIEGO (AP) – A gun-rights group is suing to block California from enforcing its assault weapons ban, contending it violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in San Diego federal court on behalf of a political action committee and three San Diego County men who want the right to use large-capacity ammunition magazines in their legal rifles and pistols.

The lawsuit contends that California improperly defines some guns as illegal solely because they can use such magazines and notes that a judge in April tossed out California’s nearly two-decade-old ban on selling or buying such magazines.

The new lawsuit could go before the same judge. It’s the latest challenge to California’s strict firearms laws and follows a recent series of deadly mass shootings nationwide involving military-style rifles.