Almost 22 years after taking on the job, Roger T. Benitez has stepped down from his position as a U.S. district judge in California, much to the relief of anti-gunners like California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Benitez was deemed the patron saint of Cailfornia gun owners for his rulings recognizing the fundamental nature of our right to keep and bear arms, and was responsible for California’s “Freedom Week” in 2019. After Benitez ruled the state’s magazine ban a violation of the Second Amendment, he refused to stay his decision, and for seven glorious days California residents could once again legally purchase ammunition magazines that can hold more than ten rounds before the Ninth Circuit granted the state’s request to continue enforcing the law on magazine sales while the Duncan case was appealed.
The seventh anniversary of Freedom Week’s conclusion came last week, and Duncan has yet to be decided. After reaching SCOTUS in 2022, the justices vacated the Ninth Circuit decision upholding the ban and sent the case back down for a do-over in light of the holdings in Bruen. Benitez once again found the ban unconstitutional, the Ninth Circuit once again disagreed, and now the case is one of five lawsuits dealing with “assault weapon” and magazine bans that the Supreme Court has held on to for several months without granting or denying cert.
Benitez also found fault with California’s ban on “assault weapons” in Miller v. Bonta, the state’s ammunition background check scheme in Rhode v. Bonta, and its ban on “billies” (aka billy clubs) in Fouts v. Bonta.
Those decisions led to Gov. Gavin Newsom vilifying Benitez in the press, knowing full well the judge couldn’t respond in kind. After Benitez ruled against California’s “assault weapons ban” and wrote in his ruling that the AR-15 is “like the Swiss army knife… a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,” the governor called the comment “a disgusting slap in the face to those who have lost loved ones to gun violence.”
When Benitez struck down the state’s ammunition background check scheme, noting in part that the system was plagued with false denials that impact tens of thousands of California gun owners, Newsom sneered that “Benitez has yet again put his personal politics and fealty for the gun lobby over the Constitution and common sense.”
California had pointed to dozens of laws dating as far back as 1789 as “historical analogues” for ammunition background checks, including restrictions that prohibited slaves, Indians and others from buying ammunition.
The judge rejected that argument, saying, “these repugnant historical examples of prejudice and bigotry” against people who were not afforded constitutional rights do not justify similar restrictions now on people protected by the Constitution.
Benitez is 75-years-old, and I don’t begrudge him stepping down from the bench and enjoying private life. According to this post on X, Benitez will still be using his judicial skills, though in a very different setting.
🚨 BREAKING
Roger Benitez, who served as a judge in the Southern District of California since 2024, has retired.
He is beloved by Second Amendment fans for striking down California’s unconstitutional gun bans.
The US Supreme Court recently upheld his rulings on parents’ rights…
— Laura Powell (@LauraPowellEsq) April 7, 2026
If you’re interested in a stroll down memory lane, here are Benitez’s opinions in several of the cases I mentioned above.
Duncan v. Bonta
Rhode v. Bonta
Miller v. Bonta
I always enjoyed reading Benitez’s rulings; not just because of the verdict he rendered, but his explanation about how he arrived at his decision. His opinions aren’t full of legalese. They’re witty, scholarly, and easily understood by those of us without a law degree.
Benitez isn’t the only district judge in California that’s found in favor of gun owners, but there is a reason why he was given the nickname of “Saint Benitez.” His consistent track record in treating the Second Amendment as a first-class right is much appreciated, and he’ll be sorely missed by 2A advocates going forward.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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