A coalition of 26 state attorneys general and the Arizona Legislature have filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a petition for certiorari in the challenge of Washington state’s 2022 ban on so-called “large-capacity” magazines by a Kelso, Wash., gun shop.

It’s a case certain to cause tremors beyond Washington’s borders if the high court grants review. The case is known as Gator’s Custom Guns, Inc. v. State of Washington, and the 32-page brief may be read here.

If SCOTUS takes this case and rules that magazines are protected by the Second Amendment, it would be a crushing blow to anti-gun Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown, and the Democrat majority in the state legislature. Ferguson championed the magazine ban when he was attorney general three years ago.

The attorneys general, led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, represent the states of Idaho, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and the Arizona Legislature.

In May, the Washington Supreme Court upheld the ban in a 7-2 ruling, with Justices Sheryl Gordon McCloud and G. Helen Whitener dissenting. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Charles Johnson.

In August, Gators Custom Guns filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for review. Republican AG Knudsen issued a statement: “The Supreme Court needs to step in to uphold Americans’ right to keep and bear arms. Lower courts, including the Washington Supreme Court, are attempting to attack and rewrite the Second Amendment. Washington’s failure to properly interpret the Second Amendment and ban plus-ten magazines ignores both history and constitutional precedent. Law-abiding citizens should not be treated like criminals for exercising their right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. As attorney general, I will continue to do everything in my power to ensure Americans and Montanans can protect themselves.”

In their brief, the attorneys general note, “Lower courts are not faithfully applying this (Supreme) Court’s Second Amendment precedents.”

In the Evergreen State, Democrats appear determined to reduce the Second Amendment to a heavily regulated government privilege, a fact which explains why so many Washingtonians have fled to other states, as revealed in an unscientific survey conducted recently on Facebook. The question: “Former Washington state residents: Please share why you left.”

Responses talked about high taxes and a “general tyrannical direction” state government is moving. Gun control was a big part of the equation.

“The accessibility of firearms, ammunition, and ownership/transfer laws all make it clear that the ruling powers want to eradicate gun ownership altogether in that state,” one respondent wrote.

Another respondent, a retired law enforcement officer, explained, “High cost of living, overtaxed, not allowing law enforcement to enforce laws. Legislator taking laws away from being enforced. Trying to take all type of rifles, shotguns and handguns away from citizens.”

A third replied, “Taxes, gun control, crime rate, no hope of political change, drug abuse related homelessness, gas/cost of living.”

Another cited “stupid gun control laws” and still another cited “Total tyrannical policies towards the 2nd Amendment.”

A transplant to Oklahoma explained, “Defending our 2A rights, we took all our guns and ammo and fled to a totally red state (with kids and grand-kids in tow). Oklahoma has open carry.”

One person who moved to neighboring Idaho stated, “We live in Idaho now, and not only are our taxes much less here, but Idaho still believes in the Second Amendment.”

As reported by the Washington State Standard, Gator’s Custom Guns owner Walter Wentz explained last month why he is pursuing Supreme Court review: He hopes to convince the nine justices to “do their job and not accept all these lower courts waving their finger at them.”

Mike Faulk, a spokesman for the Washington Attorney General’s office, told the Standard via email, “The Supreme Court has previously declined multiple petitions like this one, leaving lower court rulings upholding these public safety reforms in place.”

But Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Washington state-based Second Amendment Foundation—which is not a party in the lawsuit—countered, “The Second Amendment Foundation thanks Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the coalition of the other 26 states for their important amicus brief to the Supreme Court. It is encouraging that so many top legal minds have come to the aid of Washington’s beleaguered gun owners, and we hope their important brief helps persuade the high court to grant certiorari and eventually overturn this pathetic law.”

SAF has mounted its own challenge to Washington’s gun control laws.

In their amicus brief, the attorneys general tell the high court justices, “More fundamentally, it is time for this Court to address the repeated defiance of this Court’s holdings, particularly in jurisdictions that have repeatedly infringed on citizens’ Second Amendment rights…Widespread infringement of the Second Amendment is not a hypothetical concern but a reality.”

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About Dave Workman

Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.