For more than three decades, California has banned certain types of semiautomatic rifles including the AR-15 under an "assault weapons" ban. On
A California judge overturned the state’s ban on assault weapons, describing the popular AR-15 rifle as “good for both home and battle”. Federal judge Roger Benitez said the law went against the constitutional Second Amendment right to bear arms. Judge Benitez found that the way California defined military-style rifles deprived the state’s residents of weapons allowed elsewhere in the US. Governor Gavin Newsom described the ruling as a threat to …
Print
Would anyone really compare an AR-15 assault rifle, which has been used in so many recent mass killings, to a Swiss Army knife?
Such a comparison is ludicrous, yet that is exactly what a federal judge in San Diego did on Friday in striking down California’s 32-year-old ban on assault weapons. Judge Roger Benitez began his decision by declaring, “Like the Swiss Army Knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment.”
This is the most extreme gun rights ruling yet from a federal court. Every other court in the country has upheld bans on assault weapons. This ruling is wrong as a matter of constitutional law and of common sense. Unfortunately, though, a majority of the current Supreme Court justices are very likely inclined to expand gun rights. But I hope they will not go so far as to declare that the Constitution protects a right to have an assault weapon.
A judicial opinion striking down California s long-standing assault weapons ban has raised eyebrows from legal scholars for its rhetoric. California has said it will appeal the ruling.