Maryland Assault Weapons Ban - Maryland's ban on semi-automatic rifles with military qualities is unconstitutional because of a recent Supreme Court precedent because firearms belong to millions of Americans, gun advocates argue in federal court.
"If a firearm is in common use today, it cannot be banned," a group of Marylanders and national gun rights groups said in a filing ahead of Tuesday's hearing at the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. "Maryland's banned guns are among the most popular firearms in the country."
Maryland Assault Weapons Ban
Maryland's ban on "assault weapons" was enacted after the 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school. The state banned the less common semi-automatic "assault pistol" in 1994. The laws cover some, but not all, semi-automatic rifles, including those holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition or less than 29 inches long. Compatible rifles with detachable magazines are not legally permitted to have both a folding stock and a muzzle flash suppressor or grenade launcher.
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The lead plaintiff in the case, a Baltimore physician, said in court documents that he wanted to carry a Desert Tech MDRX rifle, which its makers describe as "built to survive the harshest military conditions." The gun only holds 10 rounds, but it falls under the ban due to its relatively small size.
Maryland's restrictions were upheld by the Fourth Circuit Court in 2017, but that precedent is in doubt after a Supreme Court ruling this year struck down New York's requirement for a "reasonable reason" to carry a concealed handgun. was given. Similar permit systems are now in legal jeopardy in six states, including Maryland.
Plaintiffs' attorneys argued that the Supreme Court has now clarified that "the only historically acceptable (and thus constitutionally acceptable) justification for prohibiting weapon species is that they are both 'dangerous and unusual'". "
"Law-abiding citizens have a right to use firearms that are in common use today," said pro-gun representative Peter A. Patterson said on Tuesday.
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The "dangerous and unusual" language stems from a 2008 Supreme Court ruling in D.C. In allows to ban all handcuffs. was cancelled. The decision established a person's right to bear arms, but treated many existing firearms regulations as "presumptively valid". That year, the court ruled that such restrictions would be unconstitutional unless shown to be "consistent with that country's historical tradition of firearms regulation".
The only rules the court identified that ban certain types of firearms are colonial-era restrictions on "dangerous and unusual" weapons that "instill fear or terror."
And semi-automatic rifles are incredibly popular with gun buyers. A 2021 survey estimates that about 30 percent of gun owners own an AR-15 or similar rifle; More than half owned a gun holding more than 10 rounds. According to one gun trade association, there are approximately 25 million semi-automatic rifles in circulation.
Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, who five years ago would have declared Maryland's law unconstitutional, said at the hearing that the Fourth Circuit Court's reasoning is now "not consistent" with Supreme Court precedent.
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"Weapons usually start with the military and are attracted or transferred by civilians," he said. "The determinant is ... whether it is in common use."
Justice Stephanie Thaker, who joined the majority in the 2017 case, questioned whether there were limits to this test. "If firearms dealers flooded the market with grenade launchers or nuclear weapons and everyone wanted to buy them to protect themselves, would that be a common use for a legitimate purpose?" He asked.
Plaintiffs also argue that since most murders are committed with handguns, semi-automatic weapons are not particularly dangerous. Research shows that banning large-capacity magazines reduces gun deaths; Plaintiffs do not contest the Maryland ban on magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Maryland states that the banned firearms are "novel weapons that pose a substantial threat to public safety." "It remains an open question" which weapons are "dangerous and unusual" after the recent Supreme Court ruling, Maryland's Assistant Attorney General Robert Scott said in a hearing.
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If the court is not convinced, the state wants a chance to examine how common and useful these weapons really are, saying the plaintiffs are relying on a handful of polls and anecdotes. "We deny that these weapons are commonly used for self-defense," Scott said.
Democrats are once again debating a national ban on assault weapons after a shooting at an LGBTQ club in Colorado left five people dead and 18 injured. The ban, implemented in 1994 under President Bill Clinton, ended in 2004 under George W. Bush. Getty Images.
The US House of Representatives passed a ban on semi-automatic firearms - the weapon used in several mass shootings over the past three months - in a vote close to party lines on Friday.
With a vote of 217 to 213, the bill, H.R. 1808, is going to an evenly divided Senate, but is unlikely to proceed there because Prohibition would require all Democrats on the board and 10 Republicans to overcome the filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer has not announced whether he plans to ban the gun.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "More children die from gun violence each year than from any other cause." "Our country has witnessed unspeakable horror as offensive weapons have been used in genocide after genocide."
The Maryland Democratic legislature all voted in favor of the legislation. Rep. Andy Harris (R) voted against the measure.
All but five House Democrats supported the ban. Only two Republicans voted in favor: Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Chris Jacobs of New York.
The five Democrats who broke away from their party and opposed the ban were Representatives Jared Golden of Maine, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, and Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas.
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The pressure to ban semi-automatic firearms came after they were used in mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two teachers were killed, and in Buffalo, New York, where a white supremacist had murdered 10 black men at a grocery store. A semi-automatic weapon was also used in the July 4 shooting in Highland Park, Illinois that killed seven people.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat, said movie theaters, houses of worship, schools, hospitals and grocery stores have become "bloody battlefields."
"These weapons have no place in our communities," he said. “There are more mass shootings than there are days in the year. This is a uniquely American problem.
The assault weapons ban was originally set to pass along with several bills providing funding for local police departments, but progressive Democrats have expressed concern and pushed for more accountability measures in police legislation.
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Representative Andy Levin, a Michigan Democrat, wrote on Twitter, "I've heard from the civil rights community and am very concerned about two police laws we may review this week." "We shouldn't pressure them unless they have strong accountability and oversight provisions in line with the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act."
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, is the lead sponsor of a bill that would authorize a $50 million grant each year for a Justice Department program to support small local police departments. Another bill would reauthorize a grant program to hire and raise local police salaries.
Rep. Val Demings, a Florida Democrat and former Orlando police chief who is running for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio's Senate seat, has sponsored a bill that would provide $100 million a year in grants to police agencies to help with violent crime intelligence. Will do
The initiative comes as the Democratic leadership has tried to resist what is seen as a party intent on "defunding the police," a slogan that many members, including Biden, have rejected. Republicans have branded Democrats for not supporting the police enough ahead of the midterm elections.
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Addressing the concerns of progressives during a weekly news briefing on Friday, Pelosi said the police law is not "funding without accountability." On the House floor, she said Democrats would pass the police and public safety bill after the August recess.
The bill would ban all semi-automatic rifles that can have a detachable magazine and military features such as pistol grips and detachable stocks or grenade launchers, among other things. It also bans "all semi-automatic rifles that have a fixed magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds."
The legislation, if enacted, would not ban current semi-automatic guns, meaning current firearm owners would be grandfathering their guns.
House Republicans, who opposed the legislation, argued that the legislation would take semi-automatic guns away from current owners, but Democrats said this was not right as they would fall under the grandfathering clause.
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During debate in the House of Representatives, Representative Guy Ressenthaler, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said the law was unconstitutional, calling it "gun robbery".
Rep. Deborah Ross, a North Carolina Democrat, denied that people were losing their guns, as many Republicans continued to say.
"It just deters future sales.
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