The California Supreme Court decided Wednesday to review a state law that prohibits convicted felons from owning body armor.

An appeals court overturned the ban last year on the grounds the law was too vague.

State Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, whose office appealed the ruling, called the state high court's decision to examine the law "a clear victory for police officers everywhere."

A ruling by the court, which did not comment on its reasons for taking the case, is probably a year away.

The ban was passed in 1998 in response to a North Hollywood shootout between police and two heavily armored bank robbers. The 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles struck down the ban in December in a challenge brought by Ethan Saleem, a parolee who was arrested after he was found to be wearing a 10-pound bulletproof vest under his shirt.