A federal judge on Thursday rejected a gun rights group's challenge to an assault weapons ban the state of Connecticut adopted after a gunman in 2012 killed 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

FTA:

But U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven in a 74-page ruling rejected those claims, saying the group failed to establish that assault weapons and large capacity magazines are commonly bought and used for self-defense.

Arterton, an appointee of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, cited “persuasive” evidence by the state that assault weapons are instead more often sought out for their militaristic characteristics and are often used in crimes and mass shootings.

This is an interesting interpretation on the Second Amendment that will probably end up being brought before the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, with the current roster of Supremes I expect it to fail.

  • quindraco@lemmy.world
    2·
    11 months ago
    1. Absolutely everyone with an interest in a self-defense firearm would prefer a “high capacity” one. The only guns that aren’t high capacity are single-shot and revolvers, both useless for self-defense in general.
    2. High caliber is not relevant here; we are discussing all weapons Connecticut has defined as “assault”, including low-caliber ones, not specifically e.g. .50s. For example, some AR platform rifles fire 22 caliber rounds, very famously a low caliber by anyone’s definition. 2A) If it were relevant, you would be wrong, as low-caliber weapons are completely useless against bears and other large wildlife, as well as anyone in body armor. People don’t buy self-defense firearms knowing what threat they will need to stop.
    3. Same again for Rifle; the statutes in question label many non-Rifles as “assault”. 3A) Rifles are significantly more accurate than handguns and hence are significantly more credible for home defense than handguns, whose only benefit is portability for self-defense on the go. Given the choice between a handgun or a rifle for home defense, only a fool would choose a handgun. Because home defense can include close-quarters combat and is never going to include very long distances, a relatively short-barreled rifle is your best bet - only a fool would choose a long rifle optimized for hunting long-distance targets.