4th Circuit Upholds Maryland's 'Assault Weapon' Ban

nhboy

Ubi bene ibi patria
" Yesterday a federal appeals court upheld Maryland's ban on so-called assault weapons, saying ownership of such guns is "not protected by the Second Amendment." The decision, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, overturned a 2016 ruling by a three-judge panel of the same court that said Maryland's law should be subject to "strict scrutiny" because it imposes a "substantial burden" on the right to keep and bear arms.

Maryland's "assault weapon" ban, which it expanded after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, bans the sale or transfer of 81 listed gun models, along with "their copies," plus all semiautomatic centerfire rifles that accept detachable magazines and have two or more of these features: a folding stock, a grenade/flare launcher, or a flash suppressor. The law also bans the sale or transfer of magazines than can hold more than 10 rounds. Violators (buyers as well as sellers) can go to prison for up to three years.

The question at the heart of the case, Kolbe v. Hogan, is whether the guns and magazines that Maryland banned qualify as "dangerous and unusual weapons," which the Supreme Court has indicated are outside the scope of the Second Amendment. That category, the Court said in the landmark Second Amendment case District of Columbia v. Heller, includes "weapons that are most useful in military service—M-16 rifles and the like." By contrast, weapons "in common use for lawful purposes" are included in the constitutional right to armed self-defense. "

http://reason.com/blog/2017/02/22/4th-circuit-upholds-marylands-assault-we
 

b23hqb

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
I'd say lock & load Maryland, but your draconian court system insists you remain subjects and not citizens.
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
This type law has done so well and saved so many lives in cities like Chicago and Detroit that it was no surprise to see our own Democrats jump on it.
They are so good at following the lead of places like Detroit and Chicago in their hopes of making Baltimore just like them.

My congratulations to them at finding a court just as fully awake as themselves and ready to make sure useless laws are enacted and not enforced.
For as we all know this law just stopped honest shooters from owning objects that criminals can and will get, law or no law.

Yes: Thank You Mike Miller and Busch, and your little suckfish minions in the Legislature.
You did it again. What a legislature we have here in Maryland.
 

black dog

Free America
Stupid liberal logic. So let's see...
Before Heller, they say individuals don't have the right to keep and bear arms outside of a militia/military context. After Heller, you can't keep and bear arms because they are weapons of war. Which is it? Whichever argument is convenient? You can't have it both ways. Incidentally, Miller was remanded because there was no evidence that a sawed-off shotgun was ever used in the military, and that was the criteria used as to whether it was protected under the Second Amendment. Looking at this case through the eyes of Miller, weapons of war must be protected, so this case cannot stand. Using The same liberal logic applied here, not only sawed-off shotguns but full-auto and select-fire machine guns as "weapons of war" are protected via Miller and the 1986 ban is unconstitutional.
In my opinion, they just opened Pandora's box. Good Luck Maryland.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
The court isn't even technically correct; I'm not aware of any military unit anywhere in the world that issues/uses AR-15s or AR-15 clones. How can they be "military" weapons when no militaries use them?
 

Chris0nllyn

Well-Known Member
They're not scary-looking enough.

This is really the heart of it.

Here we have judges making rulings based on a word essentially made up by the left, and the media. Soldiers carry handguns too, but no one thought to call them "weapons of war". We can still buy AR-15s in MD, with a heavy match barrel. We can buy and walk out the same day with a more powerful AR-10, that visually looks the same.

This law essentially banned scary weapons specifically named and features of weapons like stocks, rails, etc.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
This is really the heart of it.

Here we have judges making rulings based on a word essentially made up by the left, and the media. Soldiers carry handguns too, but no one thought to call them "weapons of war". We can still buy AR-15s in MD, with a heavy match barrel. We can buy and walk out the same day with a more powerful AR-10, that visually looks the same.

This law essentially banned scary weapons specifically named and features of weapons like stocks, rails, etc.

Therein lies the "funny" part of the story. It's a law that actually accomplishes.....nothing.
 
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