Awaiting order Updated 16 days ago
Where it stands
California's magazine limit. Distributed for the Sep 28 conference; no order confirmed yet.
The legal question
Whether California's limit on magazines holding more than 10 rounds is consistent with the Second Amendment.
In legal terms
California bans magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds. A federal district court struck the ban down in October 2023. The en banc Ninth Circuit reversed and upheld the law in March 2025. The challengers petitioned the Supreme Court (No. 25-198), and the petition has been filed and pending for months, with supplemental briefing in March 2026. It was distributed for the September 28, 2026 conference and no order has been confirmed.
The legal questions are the same ones in the rifle-ban cases: whether a magazine is an "arm" or an accessory, whether magazines that hold more than 10 rounds are in common use, and whether the history-and-tradition test supports a numeric cap. Because those questions overlap with Viramontes and Grant, the Court has options short of a grant or denial, including holding the petition until it decides those cases.
What this means, in plain English
California says no magazine can hold more than 10 rounds. Many common handguns and rifles are designed for magazines that hold more, so this affects a very large number of everyday firearms.
The Supreme Court has been asked to take this case for over a year. It has not said yes or no. One possibility is that it waits to see what it decides in the AR-15 cases, because the arguments overlap, and then tells the lower court to look at Duncan again in light of that ruling.
A grant would give the Court a direct magazine case. The Court could also hold this petition for Viramontes and Grant, since the arms-ban test it adopts there may govern magazines too.
California's cap would be struck down, and magazine limits in other states would be in jeopardy.
The Ninth Circuit ruling stands and limits remain in force on the West Coast.
What to watch: Watch the order lists. An order may come, or the petition may sit on hold until the AR-15 cases are decided.
Timeline
Key terms
- Certiorari ("cert")
- The Supreme Court chooses most of its cases. A losing party files a petition asking it to take the case. Four of the nine justices must vote to grant it. Most petitions are denied, and a denial is not a ruling on the merits.
- Hold
- The Court sets a petition aside until it decides a related case, then acts on it in light of that ruling.
- En banc
- When all (or a large group of) the judges of an appeals court rehear a case, instead of the usual three-judge panel.
- "Common use"
- A Heller idea: arms commonly owned by law-abiding people for lawful purposes are protected. Challengers to rifle and magazine bans lean on it. Governments argue the real test is history, not popularity.
- Bruen (2022)
- The Supreme Court case that struck down New York's rule requiring a special reason to get a carry permit. It set the test courts use today: if the Second Amendment's text covers what you did, the government must show its law fits the country's historical tradition of firearm regulation.
States affected
Related
Gator's Custom Guns v. Washington
Washington magazine limit. Distributed for the Sep 28 conference; no order confirmed yet.
DOJ v. Colorado (15-round magazine limit)
Justice Department sued Colorado over its 15-round magazine limit.
Sources: court dockets, the Federal Register, DOJ releases and Congress.gov. Informational only, not legal advice. Items marked Unverified are awaiting review.