Gun interests take the fight against RI's high-capacity magazine ban to the Supreme Court

PROVIDENCE – A Chepachet gun store and several gun owners in Rhode Island are taking their challenge of the state’s high-capacity magazine ban to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Big Bear Hunting and Fishing Supply in Glocester and several Rhode Island gun owners plan to seek a U.S. Supreme Court review of rulings upholding the state law that bans owning firearm magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, court records indicate.

How did we get here?

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March upheld U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr.’s refusal to block enforcement of the high-capacity magazine ban. The law's enforcement was in the public's interest, he ruled, and the gun interests had now shown sufficient likelihood of success they would prevail in their claim.

The appeals panel sent the case back to McConnell, who is poised to make his ruling final.

More: RI gun-control lobby buoyed by election wins

But the gun interests want to halt any proceedings while they seek a U.S. Supreme Court review. They are working with the Virginia-based Clement & Murphy PLLC, a firm that specializes in Supreme Court, appellate, and strategic litigation that argued the case before the 1st Circuit.

The petition is due to the Supreme Court on June 5, with court likely to decide if it will hear the matter before the year’s end.

Law makes it a felony to possess high-capacity magazines

The law, which passed with much fanfare, makes it a felony to possess a high-capacity magazine.

It gave owners of high-capacity magazines 180 days to modify the banned components, surrender them to police or transfer them to people in states where such magazines are legal. Anyone found in possession of an outlawed magazine after the grace period could face up to five years in prison or a fine of up to $5,000.

Gun advocates have argued that the law represented an unconstitutional taking without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment and that it violates their Second Amendment rights.

After the appeals court ruling, Frank Saccoccio, a lawyer who is president of the Rhode Island 2nd Amendment Coalition, criticized it as just plain "wrong" and not in keeping with the analysis called for by the U.S. Supreme Court in Second Amendment cases.

"I think it's absolutely horrendous ... It's based on a policy justification. That's not what the legal analysis should be," Saccoccio said at the time. He represents several people charged with felonies under the law for having as few as one round above the limit.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI's high capacity magazine ban poised to go to the U.S. Supreme Court