# California-Legal AR 15 Question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-legal-ar-15-question/631224>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 11, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-legal-ar-15-question/631224 "2012-08-11T22:55:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-legal-ar-15-question/631224/21 "2012-08-13T13:16:34Z")

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> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#):
>
> Furthermore:  
> Does the word constitution appear anywhere in the California Supreme Court’s conclusion?

That was just a snippet, next time try the entire dec.

But in fact they do= “state prerogative” . Give it up. You were wrong.

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-legal-ar-15-question/631224/22 "2012-08-13T13:18:30Z")

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> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#):
>
> No one is saying it isn’t. It’s not a matter of constitutionality. It’s a matter of preemption by a state law that specifically provided that municipalities could not pass laws such as the one SFO passed. I can’t type this out any slower. The law itself was unlawful. There was no issue of constitutionality raised nor decided.
> 
> I suppose I could play the same card that sent **Airman Doors** on his way itt:
> 
> Cite?

Why was the law Unlawful? Becuase the city had taken onto itself authority allowed only to the State of Ca, passed by a law-under the State Constitution, which gives the State the authority to overrule local laws.

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**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-legal-ar-15-question/631224/23 "2012-08-13T16:41:11Z")

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Ah, that’s being disingenuous at best and obtuse at worst.

Any issue at all resolved by a court could be deemed constitutional, as the power to enact laws by definition ultimately lies with powers rooted in a constitution, whether it be federal or local. The issue with the San Francisco law lie with its preemption by state law, as you acknowledge, and had nothing to do with it being a violation of the state constitution on its face.

That the state law garnered its power from the constitution is not really relevant, every law on the books in California is rooted in the constitution enabling the legislature to pass it and the governor to sign it and the judiciary to enforce it.

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