Sunnyvale's gun law takes effect as foes fail to stop it

(03-06) 17:54 PST SAN JOSE -- Sunnyvale's voter-approved ban on large-capacity gun magazines took effect as scheduled Thursday as gun owners unsuccessfully sought a stay from a federal appeals court.

The ordinance, approved by 66 percent of Sunnyvale voters in November, prohibits possession of firearms with magazines that carry more than 10 cartridges. California law has forbidden the sale or transfer of such weapons since 2000 but does not ban possession of magazines legally acquired before 2000.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte of San Jose refused Wednesday to block the Sunnyvale ordinance, saying it would have little impact on the constitutional right to keep and bear arms because such weapons are seldom used for self-defense. Two weeks earlier, another federal judge had denied an injunction against a similar ordinance in San Francisco, which is scheduled to take effect April 7.

The gun owners who challenged the Sunnyvale ordinance asked the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco for an emergency order blocking enforcement of the law, but their request was denied late Thursday in a brief order by Judges William Fletcher, Milan Smith and Morgen Christen.

Their lawyer, C.D. Michel, a regional attorney for the National Rifle Association, said they would ask the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay on Friday.