2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumCalifornia Appeals Court Upholds Assault Rifle Ban
Californias law banning possession of a semi-automatic assault rifle is constitutional, according to a state appeals court that upheld the law Monday against a Second Amendment challenge. As the courts opinion explains, the Supreme Courts seminal Second Amendment opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller held that the right to bear arms is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose, but is instead the right to possess and carry weapons typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes such as hunting or self-defense. Ownership of [d]angerous and unusual weapons is not protected by the Constitution.
Heller also did not disturb a previous Supreme Court decisions conclusion that short-barreled shotguns can be banned. According to the California court, assault rifles are at least as dangerous and unusual as the short-barreled shotgun, and thus can be banned as well.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/23/2819911/california-appeals-court-upholds-assault-rifle-ban/
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)SunSeeker
(51,694 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)DireStrike
(6,452 posts)Where the decision will be overturned 5-4.
hack89
(39,171 posts)AWBs are not a legal issue but a political one. The only guns specifically protected by Heller are handguns.