A gun store owner in Washington state says he sold a boatload of high-capacity magazines earlier this week when a state law that had banned them in 2022 was briefly lifted by the order of a local judge.
Wally Wentz owns a store called Gator’s Custom Guns in the city of Kelso, which is located in Cowlitz County just miles north of the state’s border with Oregon.
On Monday, a county judge ruled that the state could not enforce a ban on weapon magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon, reported.
The order paused a state law for about 90 minutes before the state’s Supreme Court intervened, KGW reported.
Wentz, who was behind the legal challenge of the law, told the news station he saw a stream of customers enter his business in a window of about 90 minutes in which he sold hundreds of them.
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Judge Gary Bashor ruled that the magazine ban violated state law and was also unconstitutional and issued an injunction.
Upon hearing the news, Wentz opened up his store during his day off and modified its hours.
“OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK UNTIL WE GET TOLD WE CAN’T SELL MAGS AGAIN,” his company’s Facebook page posted.
The opportunity to sell the magazines did not last long but Wentz told KGW he and his customers made the most of their short window.
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During an event Gator’s Custom Guns billed as “magazine day” at his store, Wentz said people flooded the store. Wentz said he received responses from customers which he called a “flow of constant thank yous” and requests for specific items.
“’Do you have this?’ ‘Do you have that?’” he said he was asked, noting people were also curious about how many magazines they could buy.
He said he responded, “What’s your limit on your gold card?’”
“I had no idea that people would be that excited,” he also said, referring to his brief window for selling magazines as an “interlude of freedom.”
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson heard about the ruling and quickly asked his state’s highest court to restore the magazine ban while the issue was litigated. The court agreed.
Wentz updated his customers on social media about the reinstatement of the ban and added, “We pushed about 250 people through for magazines in the 2ish hours we had. The next round of fighting starts.”
He also criticized the government for never working efficiently on behalf of its citizens but being capable of organizing on short notice to subvert their gun rights.
In late 2022, Ferguson and lawmakers banned magazines they found to be a threat to the public and they quickly sued Wentz, accusing him of not following the law.
The firearms dealer was sued and accused of selling 11,400 of the magazines after the law went into effect. He countersued, questioning the legality of the ban in the first place.
He told KGW he lost about 40 percent of his business when his state government banned his most popular product.
Wentz also said he does not know how his case against the state will play out but he is prepared to take it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
“If we do lose in there, we’re going to appeal — just like we knew the state would appeal this week,” Went said. “If we get to those folks in black dresses, it’s going to be a dogfight.”
Wentz is represented in the lawsuit by Washington’s Silent Majority Foundation, a legal group with a mission to “reign in government overreach.”
