Tag Archives: Assault weapons ban

Judge overturns California’s 32-year ban on assault weapons, by Don Thompson

As the government gets ever more tyrannical, guns and gun rights loom ever larger. From Don Thompson at apnews.com:

FILE - In this Dec. 27, 2012, file photo are some of the weapons that include handguns, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons, collected in a Los Angeles Gun Buyback event displayed during a news conference at the LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. A federal judge has overturned California's three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, ruling that it violates the constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled Friday, June 4, 2021, that the state's definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
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FILE – In this Dec. 27, 2012, file photo are some of the weapons that include handguns, rifles, shotguns and assault weapons, collected in a Los Angeles Gun Buyback event displayed during a news conference at the LAPD headquarters in Los Angeles. A federal judge has overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, ruling that it violates the constitutional right to bear arms. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled Friday, June 4, 2021, that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, calling it a “failed experiment” that violates people’s constitutional right to bear arms.

U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled on Friday that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Under no level of heightened scrutiny can the law survive,” Benitez said. He issued a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law but stayed it for 30 days to give state Attorney General Rob Bonta time to appeal.

Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the decision, calling it “a direct threat to public safety and the lives of innocent Californians, period.”

In his 94-page ruling, the judge spoke favorably of modern weapons and said they were overwhelmingly used for legal reasons.

“Like the Swiss Army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle,” the judge said in his ruling’s introduction.

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