The Washington Supreme Court has upheld the state’s ban on high-capacity magazines, the latest in a two-year-long saga that has largely played out in Southwest Washington.

Lawmakers in 2022 banned the sale of ammo clips holding more than 10 bullets in an effort to thwart deadly mass shootings. However, a gun store in Kelso continued to sell the clips and drew a fine from the Washington State Attorney General in July 2023.

A Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge later sided with the gun store and deemed the new law violated the Second Amendment.

Washington Supreme Court justices ruled 7-2 that the new state law doesn’t violate Americans’ right to bear arms because “large capacity magazines are not ‘arms.’”

“The ability to purchase [large capacity magazines] is not necessary to the core right to possess a firearm in self-defense,” Justice Charles Johnson wrote in the majority opinion.

This decision reflects a similar ruling in Oregon. In March, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld Measure 114, a voter-approved initiative that regulates the purchase of high-capacity magazines and further regulates gun purchases.

This story will be updated.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/08/washington-supreme-court-upholds-ban-on-large-ammo-clips/