Ninth Circuit blocks repeal of California's decades-old assault weapons ban

(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

By Brian Brant

(SAN DIEGO) A California federal appeals court blocked a district judge's ruling that overturned the state's 30-year-old assault weapons ban on Monday, according to Axios.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against a repeal, instituting a hold while another case challenging the ban continues.

“The stay shall remain in effect until further order of this court,” the three-judge panel wrote, per The New York Times.

Their decision stops a previous ruling from earlier this month that would have allowed the ban to end. In that ruling, Judge Roger Benitez equated the AR-15 to a Swiss Army knife.

Axios reports California has one of the lowest gun mortality rates in the country, which Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom used to prove the ban worked, challenging Benitez's decision.

"CA’s assault weapon ban has saved countless lives — we will do everything in our power to keep it in place," Newsom said in a tweet.

Bonta celebrated the Ninth Circuit's decision on Twitter.

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