Federal judge denies request to block Massachusetts assault weapons ban
BY Herschel SmithA federal judge in Massachusetts shut down an attempt to block the state’s assault weapons ban Friday, arguing that the law does not break with recent Supreme Court precedent that has severely shaken gun control legislation.
District Judge Dennis Saylor said the state ban keeps with “historical tradition” of gun control regulation, after the high court ruled last year in the landmark New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision that all gun control legislation must keep with that tradition.
“The relevant history affirms the principle that in 1791, as now, there was a tradition of regulating ‘dangerous and unusual’ weapons – specifically, those that are not reasonably necessary for self-defense,” Saylor wrote.
The judge added that the assault weapons in question are “not suitable for ordinary self-defense purposes, and pose substantial dangers far beyond those inherent in the design of ordinary firearms.”
And that, dear folks, is all it takes to prove yourself an idiot.
Not suitable for ordinary self-defense purposes. Substantial dangers far beyond those inherent in the design of ordinary firearms. Now, try to reconcile those two passages.
No, you can’t. Because that 30-06 or 700 Rem Mag sitting in your gun safe will do far more damage than a 5.56mm round. And there were no precedents in 1791 regulating weapons, and there is nothing unusual about AR-15s when so many tens of millions of people own them.
And you know what I see after Heller, McDonald, Caetano and Bruen? I see the supreme court running away from this issue like cowards, especially Barrett. I don’t care whether the court wants to see a full stack of prior decisions on this issue. There is nothing more necessary to make this decision. All the facts are in and have been for decades. It could be a single paragraph long. Or even shorter.
“AR-15’s are not unusual weapons in America. Therefore, they cannot be banned.”
There, I did it for them. No muss, no fuss. It wasn’t hard. But it must be hard for them.