Washington State Supreme Court Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud didn’t think much of the charges lodged against Walter Wentz, owner of Gator’s Custom Guns in Kelso, Washington, especially that he knowingly sold standard-capacity magazines to undercover state regulators.
After all, Justice McCloud knows the law. She joined the state’s highest court in 2012, and the people of Washington State have reelected her twice since then.
“The Second Amendment protects the individual right to keep and bear arms,” McCloud wrote, citing N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, District of Columbia v. Heller, and McDonald v. City of Chicago.
“More specifically, it protects the right of law-abiding people to keep and bear arms ‘in common use’—not just arms that the government approves of. And it protects that conduct when it is done ‘for lawful purposes’ including, but not limited to, ‘self-defense’—not just when it involves returning fire, as the State seems to contend. Finally, the Second Amendment’s protection of that conduct is the highest in ‘the home, where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute,’” she wrote last week, citing Heller and McDonald once again.
Unfortunately for Wentz and his gun shop, Justice McCloud wrote a minority opinion. The rest of the Washington State’s highest court ruled 7 to 2 against Wentz, and may have even violated his Second Amendment rights, which Justice McCloud so eloquently defended.
The majority opinion was written by Justice Charles Johnson.
“By restricting only magazines of a capacity greater than 10, the statute effectively regulates the maximum capacity of magazines, leaving the weapon fully functional for its intended purpose,” Justice Johnson wrote. “Indeed, we can safely say that individuals are still able to exercise the core right to bear arms when they are limited to purchasing magazines with a capacity of 10 or fewer.”
Now, as a result, Wentz has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. It’s a longshot, since the country’s highest court receives 7,000 to 10,000 petitions each year but typically only hears around 80 cases.
Unique History
According to the state’s complaint, in March 2022, Washington passed SB 5078, which banned the sale, importation, distribution and manufacture of “large capacity magazines or LCMs,” which can accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
“The threat posed by LCMs is not merely theoretical. Since 1980, LCMs have been involved in at least 85 mass shootings nationwide, resulting in 791 fatalities and more than 1,100 injuries,” the lawsuit claims. “Unfortunately, mass shootings continue, as does the use of weapons equipped with LCMs to reign terror upon our communities, including three this year alone – Monterey Park, Nashville, and Allen. Washington State is no stranger to these terrible events, as evidenced by mass shootings in recent years in Mukilteo and Burlington.”
The state’s lawsuit accuses Wentz and Gators of violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act when it sold standard capacity magazines to two state “investigators” on two occasions.
“In fact, one of those sales was made by Wentz himself: two magazines with capacity four times greater than the maximum allowed under the law,” a 2023 press release by Attorney General Bob Ferguson claims.
Wentz countersued in superior court and won his case, but within minutes the state appealed and got a stay.
“Our stay only lasted 88 minutes,” Wentz said in January. “We appealed that, and on 14 January we will be at the (state) Supreme Court.”
Wentz Speaks Out
Wentz employs a staff of four including his youngest son who is the store’s manager. The gun shop started out small with about 900 square feet of space, but four years ago they expanded into a much bigger building.
He and his family knew they would likely lose in the state’s supreme court.
“Consistency, in our defense of the Second Amendment, is lacking,” Wentz said Monday. “This is a chance for the High Court of the land to get us back on course. It’s a fourth-quarter push. I do not like the alternatives if this fails. I’m doing as good as I can.”
Wentz’s gun shop is suffering. Sales remain down 40 percent, but he has so far avoided any layoffs.
“Thanks to another mandate in state law, we were required to hire another individual. Now, with the long guns being behind a counter not accessible to the public, we have to have two people at the counter instead of one,” he said.
Wentz, too, was awestruck by Justice McCloud’s minority opinion.
“To get two dissenters at our state supreme court in the shape it’s in was dumbfounding,” Wentz said. “It gives me hope that they don’t want to be the last jackal on the carcass. We’re looking for a more well-rounded state supreme court. I’m happy we got two dissenters who realize that the BS will not stand forever. We welcome those two justices into the realm of constitutional law.”
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
Behind Enemy Lines: WA Supremes Say Magazines NOT 2A Protected
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
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