Zondorak

William Martin Zondorak, Jr., was convicted of violating California’s Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989 (AWCA; Pen. Code, § 30500) because he possessed an AK series rifle. He argues on appeal that, under District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) 554 U.S. 570 [ 171 L.Ed.2d 637 , 128 S.Ct. 2783 ] (Heller), California’s ban on possession of this weapon violates his right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Although other courts have rejected this expansive reading of Heller as precluding a state from banning assault weapons, and he cites no case applying Heller’s principles to invalidate a state’s ban on semiautomatic assault weapons, Zondorak asserts that we should construe Heller to bar California from criminalizing his possession of a semiautomatic AK series rifle. We conclude the ban on specified semiautomatic assault weapons under the AWCA does not transgress the Second Amendment, and we affirm Zondorak’s conviction.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Zondorak was charged by information with possession of an assault weapon in violation of Penal Code former section 12280, subdivision (b) (section 12280). The…