On April 8, Judge Gary B. Bashor of the Superior Court of Washington for Cowlitz County issued a summary judgment order finding Washington's ban on magazines holding over ten rounds violative of Washington's Declaration of Rights ("The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired") and the federal Second Amendment, and enjoined enforcement thereof. The 55-page ruling in State of Washington v. Gator's Custom Guns is one of the most thorough analyses issued by a court to date of why such a ban infringes on the right to keep and bear arms.
As Gator's counsel Austin F. Hatcher informed me, Judge Bashor's order was emailed to counsel at 3:04 p.m. At 4:15 p.m., the Assistant Attorney General emailed a motion to stay the injunction to counsel and said it was simultaneously being filed with the Washington Supreme Court. The 32-page motion was obviously prepared in advance in anticipation of an adverse ruling.
Without giving Gator's an opportunity to respond, Commissioner of the Court Michael E. Johnston emailed an order to counsel at 5:04 p.m. staying the injunction. That was only 49 minutes after receiving the motion to stay.
