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You Have No Right to Own a ‘Military-Style’ Rifle, According to Federal Appeals Court Decision

A federal appeals court in Maryland ruled Tuesday that semi-automatic rifles, commonly referred to as “military-style assault weapons,” are not protected under the Second Amendment.

The ruling came after the state’s so-called “assault weapons” ban was challenged on constitutional grounds. However, the court easily upheld the ban with a 10-4 vote.

Maryland’s gun ban also outlaws magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.

Getty Images/George Frey

Judge Robert King reportedly referred to the banned rifles as “weapons of war,” and cited recent mass shootings in his ruling:

“Put simply, we have no power to extend Second Amendment protection to the weapons of war.

[…]

Both before and after Newtown, similar military-style rifles and detachable magazines have been used to perpetrate mass shootings in places whose names have become synonymous with the slaughters that occurred there.

We are convinced that the banned assault weapons and large-capacity magazines are among those arms that are ‘like’ ‘M-16 rifles’ — ‘weapons that are most useful in military service’ — which the Heller Court singled out as being beyond the Second Amendment’s reach.”

Courtney Manwaring holds an AR-15 (T) and a Ruger 10-22 (B), both semi-automatic guns at Action Target on June 17, 2016 in Springville, Utah. Getty Images/George Frey

It would be prudent to first review the Second Amendment in its entirety:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The constitutional amendment does not draw distinctions between various types of firearms, but it does end with strong language about any attempts to infringe on the right to bear arms. Gun control advocates have long argued that America’s Founding Fathers were only considering Revolution-era firearms when they wrote the Second Amendment, a point that is still fiercely debated.

The case can still be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Though semi-automatic rifles are usually the most talked about firearms in the never-ending gun debate, they are also rarely used in fatal shootings.

http://ijr.com/2017/02/807907-you-have-no-right-to-own-a-military-style-rifle-according-to-federal-appeals-court-decision/

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