Court vacates decision blocking California ban on under-21 rifle sales

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a May decision that deemed California's ban on selling semiautomatic weapons to adults under 21 to be unconstitutional, citing recent Supreme Court ruling New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. Inc. v. Bruen. The court has now sent the case back to the federal trial judge who refused to block the ban from 2019, when a 19-year-old opened fire in a synagogue near San Diego.

In June, the high court ruled it unconstitutional to require a license to carry a concealed weapon, and said firearms restrictions not rooted in American history are in violation of the Second Amendment, the Los Angeles Times reports.

As a result, California's attorneys argued that the May case needed to be remanded, or sent back to the lower courts, for both parties to provide more evidence and historical context to determine the ban's constitutionality. The Ninth Circuit granted the remand, without providing an explanation or new conclusions regarding the ban's constitutionality.

Groups challenging the ban, including the Firearm Policy Coalition, have opposed the remand, claiming that the previous decision determined their claims' success and the Supreme Court decision doesn't change the analysis.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, meanwhile, said in a statement that he looks forward to "defending this law in the district court to protect the public safety of Californians and so that they can safely live, work, and congregate without fear of becoming a victim of gun violence."