The "assault weapons" nonsense continues to be bandied about the nation. The legacy media and Democrat politicians can be depended on, at every turn, to demagogue this issue, speaking freely on a topic they know nothing about. And the various states are still trying to ban these weapons that they can't even define consistently, even now in the post-Bruen world.
Now, the Supreme Court, on Monday, has declined to hear a challenge to such a law in the state of Maryland in the case of Snope v. Brown.
The justices rejected a case opposing the measure, which was enacted after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut. The attack left 20 children and six adults dead. The shooter was armed with an AR-15, one of the firearms commonly classified as an assault weapon.
Three conservative Supreme Court justices publicly stated they would have taken up a challenge to a state assault weapons ban, while a fourth expressed doubt about the constitutionality of such laws, suggesting the court may revisit the issue in the future.
The court similarly denied cert in Ocean State Tactical v. Rhode Island.
The definition of "assault weapon," at least the definition accepted by the left, is any semi-automatic weapon that can accept a detachable magazine. Of course, the strongest proponent of these laws can't explain why something like an AR-15 pattern rifle, which is a semi-automatic rifle that accepts detachable magazines, is an "assault rifle" and another long gun, the Winchester 100, which is a semi-automatic rifle that accepts detachable magazines, is not.
Several states have enacted similar restrictions, and Congressional Democrats have voiced support for such measures.
The challengers argued that individuals have a constitutional right to own firearms like the AR-15.
The Second Amendment states pretty plainly that the right of the people to keep (own) and bear (carry) arms shall not be infringed, but that right is routinely infringed in several states and by the federal government, and has been since at least 1934.
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Of course, the 1994 federal ban is mentioned:
Ten states and the District of Columbia have similar restrictions, affecting major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. Congress allowed a federal assault weapons ban to expire in 2004.
The 1994 law was a ban only on certain cosmetic features. Banned were magazines with a capacity of over 10 rounds, flash hiders, separate pistol grips, folding/collapsing stocks, and bayonet lugs. Yes, really; bayonet lugs. These were banned presumably due to the rash of robberies conducted at bayonet-point in the early '90s. Before the law was passed, one could buy an AR-pattern rifle with all of those features. After the law was passed, one could buy an AR-pattern rifle that functioned precisely the same as a "pre-ban" rifle but lacked these features, including the dreaded bayonet lug.
Maryland's "assault weapons" law will, for the time being, remain in place. There will doubtless be more challenges to laws like this, and we note from the linked article that at least three justices would be open to hearing a challenge. And, as long as there are liberal politicians who know nothing about guns, there will be more laws passed, and more opportunities to challenge them in court. This decision was a bad one for Second Amendment advocates, but the fight goes on.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie.
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