The Vermont Supreme Court has upheld the legality of a Vermont law that restricts the size of large capacity ammunition magazines for firearms.
In a decision released Friday, the court says the law enacted in 2018 is a “reasonable regulation of the right of the people to bear arms for self-defense.”
The ruling came in a case filed by Max Misch, of Bennington, who was charged with buying two, 30-round rifle magazines in New Hampshire and bringing them back to Vermont. The court also used the Misch decision to answer a separate challenge to the law filed by the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs.
Attorney General T.J. Donovan said in a statement that the court’s decision “is a win for common sense gun policies and for public safety.” He said the court recognized that large-capacity magazines are are rarely, if ever, used in self-defense.
“Vermont’s ban on large capacity magazines, according to the Court, is a reasonable exercise of the State’s police power and poses a minimal, if any, burden on the right to bear arms,” Donovan said.
The challenge to the high capacity ban stems from a package of gun reforms signed in Apri 2018 by Gov. Phil Scott. The bills also expanded background checks to include private sales, increased the gun purchasing age in Vermont to 2 and banned bump stocks and restricts high capacity magazines.
