Just this week he once again stepped up, this time in Miller v. Bonta. Benitez declared the ban infringes on the Supreme Court’s decision in last year’s Bruen case.
Benitez enjoined the state from enforcing its ban, staying the order for 10 days to allow officials to appeal. It is the second time he has had the case in his courtroom.
In his opinion, he lauded the nation’s rich tradition in protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear common arms. Benitez said there is “nothing like California’s prohibition on rifles, shotguns and handguns based on their looks or attributes.”
He noted that high profile crimes involving semiautomatic weapons get all the publicity, but there are other instances that should be celebrated. He cited the defensive use of an AR-15 by a pregnant Florida wife and mother that saved her family.
Her home was invaded by two hooded, masked and armed intruders.
Benitez wrote, “As soon as the armed intruders entered the backdoor of her home they pistol-whipped her husband — fracturing his eye socket and sinus cavity. Then they grabbed the 11-year-old daughter. The pregnant wife and mother was able to retrieve the family AR-15 from a bedroom and fire, killing one of the attackers while the other fled.”
The judge added, “It does not require much imagination to think what would have happened next if the woman had lived in California and could not possess such a firearm.”
Benitez cited more cases of self-defense in which an AR-15 proved critical. One involved a frightening incident when seven armed and masked men broke into a residence. It took the homeowner, outnumbered seven to one, 30 rounds from his AR-15 to end the attack.
A lesser weapon would likely have led to a far different outcome.
