SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - In a victory for the Second Amendment, a California appeals court has ruled that a handgun ban in San Francisco contradicts state law.
Voters concerned about the "serious problem" of handgun violence in their city passed Prop H in 2005, barring "virtually all" city residents from owning handguns and preventing anyone from selling, distributing or manufacturing firearms and ammunition.
The ordinance invokes the city's "home rule" power, described as the authority of "counties to enact laws that exclusively apply to residents within their borders, even when such a law conflicts with state law or when state law is silent."
Opponents claimed this violated a state law that specifically prohibits municipalities from banning guns.
The court affirmed the district court's rejection of the gun ban on pre-emption grounds and stressed that it was not joining the debate over gun control as a means to combat crime.
The justices also summarily dismissed the "home rule" argument, ruling that gun control is "a matter of statewide concern, which should not be disrupted by permitting this type of contradictory local action." See ruling.
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