Attorneys representing a Kelso gun shop and its owner have filed a supplemental brief with the U.S. Supreme Court following a recent District of Columbia appellate court ruling against the federal district's ban on large capacity magazines.
The Wednesday brief is an update to the petition the attorneys for Gator’s Custom Guns and owner Wally Wentz filed in August to have their case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The latest filing argues the District of Columbia Court of Appeals' March 5 ruling contradicts last year's ruling by the Washington State Supreme Court.
Washington state justices upheld the state's magazine ban in a 7-2 vote in May, but in the recent Benson v. United States, the D.C Court of Appeals struck down the federal district's large capacity magazine ban as unconstitutional.
The Gator’s Custom Guns brief states there is confusion between state and federal courts rulings on whether such magazines are considered "arms," as protected by the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.
Wentz continued to sell large-capacity magazines after the Washington State Legislature passed a 2022 law that banned the sale, manufacture and distribution of high-capacity magazines that hold 10 or more rounds.
According to the Aug. 6 petition, Gator’s Custom Guns, located at 109 Allen St., is seeking to overturn that law.
The case was first heard by Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor, who ruled in 2024 that the law was unconstitutional, opening a brief window in which the high-capacity magazines were legal across the state and kickstarting the case's ascent from the state Supreme Court to possibly the U.S.
Wentz and his store are represented by Austin Hatcher, of the Pasco-based Silent Majority Foundation, as well as Paul Clement, Erin Murphy, and Matthew Rowen of Clement & Murphy, of Alexandria, Virginia.
