Federal judge upholds Massachusetts assault weapons ban

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill



BY MORGAN GSTALTER - 04/06/18 11:46 AM EDT

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Friday challenging Massachusett’s ban on assault weapons.

U.S. District Judge William Young said in his ruling that the firearms and large magazines banned by the state in 1998 are “not within the scope of the personal right to ‘bear Arms’ under the Second Amendment.”

The features of a military style rifle are "designed and intended to by particularly suitable for combat rather than sporting applications," Young wrote. Massachusetts was within its rights since the ban passed directly through elected representatives, Young decided.

“Other states are equally free to leave them unregulated and available to their law-abiding citizens,” Young wrote. “These policy matters are simply not of constitutional moment. Americans are not afraid of bumptious, raucous, and robust debate about these matters. We call it democracy.”


Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/381957-federal-judge-upholds-massachusetts-assault-weapons-ban

[billh58]

1. K & R! n/t

[Gothmog]

2. The Heller opinion allows for these restrictions

[hlthe2b]

3. Finally, one bit of good news today.

Gawd, some of the subject lines this morning have been awful.

[notdarkyet]

4. Massachusetts leading the way.

[Brainstormy]

5. Progress, as General Electric used to say,

is our most important product.

[asiliveandbreathe]

6. Oh, those states rights..keep getting in the way....good on my home state of Mass....eom

[FailureToCommunicate]

7. And...that's another reason Massachusetts has the lowest gun deaths in the U.S.

[HopeAgain]

8. Please don't try to confuse gunsplainers with statistics

they would rather talk about how it can't be done like it has been done in MA.

[FailureToCommunicate]

9. Doh! What was I thinking.

[NickB79]

10. Quick question: does this only apply to semi-automatic firearms?

[Judi Lynn]

11. Judge: Assault weapons ban doesn't violate 2nd Amendment

Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press
 Updated 8:41 pm, Friday, April 6, 2018

BOSTON (AP) — Assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are not protected by the Second Amendment, a federal judge said in a ruling Friday upholding Massachusetts' ban on the weapons.

U.S. District Judge William Young dismissed a lawsuit challenging the 20-year-old ban, saying assault weapons are military firearms that fall beyond the reach of the constitutional right to "bear arms."

Regulation of the weapons is a matter of policy, not for the courts, he said.

"Other states are equally free to leave them unregulated and available to their law-abiding citizens," Young said. "These policy matters are simply not of constitutional moment. Americans are not afraid of bumptious, raucous and robust debate about these matters. We call it democracy."

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Federal-judge-upholds-Massachusetts-assault-12812100.php