Federal judge reverses himself, rules that California’s ban on billy clubs is unconstitutional

SAN DIEGO– A federal judge has struck down a California law banning the possession of club-like weapons, reversing his previous ruling three years ago that upheld a ban on batons, clubs and similar blunt objects.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez ruled last week that the ban “unconstitutionally infringes on the Second Amendment rights of American citizens” and barred the state from enforcing the law, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Guns like Billy Clubs have been banned in California in one form or another since 1917, with exceptions for law enforcement officers and some state-licensed security guards, the Times said.

Benitez stated in September 2021 that California’s ban on such weapons qualified as “long-standing” and therefore did not violate the Second Amendment. But while that ruling was under appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the New York State Rifle case & Pistol Association v. Bruen which changed the legal analysis for Second Amendment regulations.

The Billy Club case was sent back to Benitez to review under the new Bruen analysis. He concluded that Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, which is defending the case, has not provided evidence of any historically similar ban.

Bonta said the judge’s decision “defies logic” and that the state has filed an appeal.

“The Supreme Court was clear that Bruen did not create a regulatory straitjacket for states – and we believe the court got it wrong. We will not stop our efforts to protect the safety of communities,” Bonta said in a statement on Monday.

Alan Beck, an attorney for two military veterans who challenged the Billy Club ban, welcomed Benitez’s ruling.

“I thought it was a simple application of Supreme Court precedent,” Beck told the Times on Monday.

The challenged California law prohibits the possession, manufacture, importation or sale of “any leaded stick, or any instrument or weapon of the kind commonly known as a billy, blackjack, sandbag, sand club, sap or slingshot.”

Courts have defined a Billy as any kind of stick, bat, or club that is intended to be used as a weapon – even common objects like a baseball bat or table leg can qualify if it is intended to cause harm.