SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit against five online gun equipment suppliers alleging they are violating California’s prohibition of selling high-capacity magazines on Thursday, February 9.
The lawsuit identifies Badger Mountain Supply, located in Washington state; 7.62 Precision in Alaska; Shooters Plus, located in Mississippi; LAK Supply of Wyoming; and Buymilsurp.com, located in Florida as companies selling complete, but dissembled large-capacity magazines as repair kits to customers in California and San Francisco.
High-capacity magazines have been illegal to sell in California since January 1, 2000.
“Large-capacity magazines make guns significantly more lethal and have been used in high-profile mass shootings across the country, including the 2016 Orlando nightclub massacre, which killed 49 people,” the SF City Attorney’s office said in a statement.
The lawsuit is seeking $2,500 in civil penalties for each act of unlawful, unfair, fraudulent competition, and costs of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also aims to prohibit companies from marketing and selling large-capacity magazine repair kits or any type of disassembled magazines in California.
Herrera is seeking a court order requiring all five online gun equipment suppliers to clearly state it’s illegal to buy repair, rebuild kits, or any dissembled large-capacity magazine in California on their website and all other marketing platforms.
“It takes a particular type of miscreant to compromise the safety of Californians simply for profit,” Herrera said. “The only purpose of these magazines is to kill as many people as quickly as possible. They have no place in our neighborhoods. That’s why the people of California have spoken loud and clear on this,” Herrera said in a statement.
None of the five online gun equipment suppliers were available for comments, reports said.
Long Beach Attorney C.D. Michel, who specializes in firearm laws, told the SF Gate, Herrera’s lawsuit is a ploy to harass businesses that sell accessories to law-abiding gun owners.
In 2013, Herrera sued four other companies for selling repair kits to customers in California, and one year later San Francisco banned the possession of large-capacity magazines in the city. On July 1, 2017 California will join San Francisco and outlaw the possession of large-capacity magazines statewide after Prop. 63 was passed last November.
