ATLANTA — According to a press release on Wednesday, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has joined a coalition of 24 states urging the Supreme Court to review a New Jersey law that limits magazine capacities of firearms.
“The right to bear arms is vital to all Americans,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “New Jersey’s law criminalizes the mere possession of commonly used arms, even in the home for self-defense, which unconstitutionally strikes at the core of the Second Amendment.”
Georgia is among 43 states that allow the standard capacity magazines that New Jersey’s law bans. Ammunition magazines that hold multiple rounds are standard for common handguns.
Recently, the Ninth Circuit explained, “Our country’s history has shown that communities of color have a particularly compelling interest in exercising their Second Amendment rights.” The same is true for women; guns can allow women to protect themselves more effectively against “abusers and assailants”.
Additionally, the release stated that individuals in areas with high crime rates where law enforcement is “stretched thin” especially value the right to keep weapons for self-defense.
After a challenge to the New Jersey law was rejected by a Third Circuit panel in 2018, the plaintiffs are now taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where they seek to reverse the Third Circuit’s “misguided decision”.
The coalition, which was initiated and led by Arizona and Louisiana, currently consists of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, and now Georgia.