San Diego lawsuit challenges California’s ban on less-lethal pepperball weapons

A newly filed lawsuit in San Diego federal court is challenging the constitutionality of California laws that prohibit state residents from buying and owning weapons that fire pepper projectiles, arguing that banning the less-lethal weapons violates the Second Amendment.

Such weapons are known as pepper projectile launchers and typically resemble a pistol or rifle, using CO₂ cartridges to fire pepperballs, which are about the size of paintballs and are filled with a chemical irritant powder designed to temporarily incapacitate the person being shot.

“Pepper projectile launchers are a commonly-used arm that many Americans choose as a non-lethal alternative to firearms,” the lawsuit argues. “California doesn’t just deny its citizens this choice; it criminalizes the act of selling or possessing such an arm. This inexplicable ban violates the Second Amendment.”

The lawsuit argues that a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2016 held that less-lethal stun guns qualify as arms protected by the Second Amendment. “The non-lethal arms at issue here are similarly protected,” the lawsuit contends.

The named plaintiffs in the suit are a woman who lives in San Diego County, a man who lives in Orange County and Byrna Technologies, described in the complaint as the manufacturer and seller of “the most popular pepper projectile launchers in the nation.” Byrna’s website informs would-be buyers that it