Gun owners in the very liberal state of Massachusetts received some bad news today.
A ban on “assault weapons” — put in quotes because the definition of this phrases changes almost constantly — was upheld by a U.S. judge as not violating the Constitution.
This ruling is a clear victory for gun grabbers who are no doubt thrilled to put a “w” on the board for gun control in America.
Bloomberg is reporting:
Massachusetts’ beefed-up ban on assault weapons doesn’t violate the Second Amendment of the Constitution, a U.S. judge ruled, handing a victory to gun-control advocates seeking to pass such a law nationwide following a spate of deadly mass shootings.
“The AR-15 and its analogs, along with large capacity magazines, are simply not weapons within the original meaning of the individual constitutional rights to ‘bear arms,’” U.S. District Judge William Young wrote in a decision Thursday in Boston, dismissing a lawsuit over the state law.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey was sued by a gun-rights group in response to her July 2016 enforcement notice that broadened the definition of “copies or duplicates” of AR-15 and AK-47 models that are prohibited under the state’s 1998 assault-weapon bans.
“These are weapons of war that belong on the battlefield, and we were pleased today to see yet another court agree with that stance,” Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement.
Gun litigation has taken on a new urgency following the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were left dead. Survivors mobilized on social media and successfully pushed for a new gun-control law in Florida, which triggered a lawsuit by the National Rifle Association. The law raised the age to purchase a gun to 21 from 18. The U.S. Supreme Court in November left intact a ruling that upheld Maryland’s ban on assault weapons.
People in Massachusetts and in liberal circles in general do not seem capable of grasping the difference between a traditional “assault rifle” and a semi-automatic weapon.
Traditionally speaking, fully automatics have always been considered “assault weapons,” because they were the kind used by the military in operations and are machine guns firing rapid rounds.
An AR-15 is not actually an assault weapon. It is semi-automatic, meaning you have to pull the trigger to fire off each round. Just like a handgun.
This kind of legislation is purposefully designed to open the door for any kind of gun to be subjected to a potential ban. If they can take away AR-15s, it’s only a matter of time before 9mm guns are yanked too.
Gun owners need to be more diligent than ever to ensure their rights are not violated.
