California Assault Weapon Ban Case May Wait on Bullet Ruling (1)

A Ninth Circuit ruling on California’s ban on assault guns may be deferred pending a separate lawsuit in that court challenging the state’s ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

A three-judge panel during oral arguments Wednesday repeatedly asked attorneys for the state and gun owners and advocates whether the court should wait for an 11-judge ruling after a March hearing on a lawsuit that gun owner Virginia Duncan filed to block state’s magazine capacity limit. Both cases seek to block laws that advocates contend are unconstitutional and counter to US Supreme Court rulings.

“At a minimum we’d ...