“Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,” US District Judge Roger T. Benitez wrote.
In another section, he downplayed the risk of an assault rifle being used in a mass shooting as an “infinitesimally rare event.” He added: “More people have died from the Covid-19 vaccine than mass shootings in California.”
For gun rights advocates, Judge Benitez is a proper defender of the importance of the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms.
“Unlike some appellate decisions in this area, Judge Benitez held the government to its burdens of proof, recognized the high hurdles the government must overcome when burdening the right to keep and bear arms, and gave the Second Amendment the weight and respect it deserves,” Firearms Policy Coalition appellate counsel Erik Jaffe said about last Friday’s ruling.
At the same time, gun control advocates say he is less an impartial judge than a pro-gun advocate.
“Judge Benitez’s decision displays a shocking misunderstanding of assault weapons and legal precedent and reads more like an NRA press release than a judicial ruling,” said Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America. “Judge Benitez should spend more time learning about the impacts of gun violence on American communities and less trying to own the libs,” he added.
How he got to the federal court
Benitez declined a CNN request for comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed Benitez to a new federal judgeship in the Southern District of California created to alleviate an overwhelmed court system. He had been unanimously recommended by a judicial advisory committee made up of three people selected by Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and three people selected by the Bush Administration.
“No such conciliatory comments were forthcoming from the nominee,” Macias said.
An ABA spokesperson said the organization does not comment on nor criticize sitting judges.
In that same hearing, Feinstein introduced his nomination by citing his “impressive” life story. She also said she was surprised by the ABA’s negative rating and that those who spoke to attorney David Casey, the then-president of the American Trial Lawyers Association, indicated differently.
She asked Benitez about these criticisms during the hearing. He said the court he oversaw had a high volume of cases, and so he tried to keep the cases moving.
“And so perhaps sometimes because of the fact that we are trying to work with the numbers that we work with and may be perceived by attorneys — perhaps those who don’t know me, they may perceive the fact that I’m trying to move the calendar along as a sign of bad temper,” Benitez responded.
His repeated rulings against gun control
In the past five years, Judge Benitez has made a series of rulings blocking parts of California’s gun laws from going into effect.
However, in 2017, Benitez granted a motion for a preliminary injunction on the part of the law that banned possessing LCMs, which hold more than 10 rounds. And in March 2019, he ruled that this part of the law was unconstitutional and violated the Second Amendment.
“It criminalizes the otherwise lawful acquisition and possession of common magazines holding more than 10 rounds — magazines that law-abiding responsible citizens would choose for self-defense at home,” he wrote.
In addition, in April 2020, Benitez granted a preliminary injunction against the ammo background check part of the law, calling it “constitutionally defective.”
“The experiment has been tried. The casualties have been counted. California’s new ammunition background check law misfires and the Second Amendment rights of California citizens have been gravely injured,” he wrote.
“With its newest over-arching and sweeping background check system, the State completely chokes off many law-abiding responsible gun owners while burdening all citizens who want to buy ammunition,” he added.
His ruling last week overturning California’s assault weapons ban — Swiss army knife reference and all — will similarly be appealed, the state’s attorney general told CNN. Still, for his critics, Benitez has proven to be a predictably frustrating thorn in their side.
“Judge Benitez has shown a consistent callous disregard for the facts about gun violence in this country,” said Ari Freilich, state policy director for the Giffords Law Center.