The battle to restore the right of California residents to buy new semi-automatic pistols now moves to the California Supreme Court.
The California State Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether gun manufacturers can challenge a 2007 state law requiring microstamping technology on all new semi-auto pistols sold in the state.
A state appeals court had ruled in favor of the National Shooting Sports Foundation who, with assistance from NRA’s California counsel, argued that the technology is not up to the task. The law laid dormant until 2014, when then-Attorney General for California Kamala Harris certified the technology as being “generally available”—despite the fact that it is not being employed anywhere in the country.
The effect of Harris’ decision has been to ban the sale of all current semi-auto pistols in California, as manufacturers have been unable to mass-produce a handgun that microstamps a cartridge any place other than where struck by the firing pin (the results of which are also limited). California law requires each cartridge to be stamped in two places.
