A three-judge panel of a federal appellate court on Monday issued a stay in the case that found California's "assault weapon" statutes to be unconstitutional.

The panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued the motion in the case of Miller v. Bonta. Miller, joined by other would-be gun owners against the ban and backed by pro-gun groups, argued their constitutional right to keep and bear arms were being trampled by the state and a lower court agreed on the matter earlier this month. 

However, the panel's action this week shortcuts that huge legal victory and puts it on ice pending the outcome of the case of Rupp v. Bonta, which in turn is stayed pending the 9th Circuit's planned rehearing of a third case, Duncan v. Bonta, all of which challenge elements of state's Assault Weapon Control Act, which restricts law-abiding gun owners to somewhat neutered California Compliant firearms

"Tens of millions of Californians have suffered under the State’s unconstitutional and oppressive gun control scheme for far too long," said the Firearms Policy Coalition, who is a party to the Miller case. "Today the Ninth Circuit chose government tyranny over human lives and rights. If the federal courts wish to remain a relevant part of this Republic’s system of ordered liberty, then they should do their [well-paid, lifetime-tenure] jobs and stand up for the rights of the people of the United States in every case—not merely when it is convenient to them and anti-rights radicals like Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta."

The three-judge panel that issued the stay in Miller this week was made up of U.S. Circuit Court Judges Dorothy Nelson, Jacqueline Nguyen, and Barry Silverman, who were appointed by Presidents Carter, Obama, and Clinton, respectively. 

Banner image: Non-California Compliant Barrett rifles (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

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