Of all the amendments to the US Constitution, there is one that has been under constant siege for decades. The Second Amendment is the only one that Americans are required, in many parts of the country, to justify why they exercise the right it protects, meet certain standards, and constantly deal with a barrage of infringements of that same right – all of which are, by definition, unconstitutional. There is good news, though, for gun rights advocates.
The Supreme Court, which has avoided one specific aspect of the gun rights war, has signaled it will indeed confront challenges to so-called assault weapons bans when justices return to the bench in October.
Assault on Assault Weapons
The cases in question, which will reportedly be combined in oral arguments, concern residents of Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois, who have all been prevented from purchasing AR-platform semiautomatic rifles because of local or state bans on such weapons.
Some of the justices on the Supreme Court – there are no prizes for guessing which ones – were less than satisfied the last time the Court voted to decline such a case. Brett Kavanaugh, writing separately after the vote, said, “In my view, this court should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon.”
The Court could not avoid the issue for much longer. There is no federal ban on what the anti-gun lobby calls assault weapons to make them seem scary. And these weapons are in common use, which makes them entirely acceptable by impartial judicial standards.
The prognosis is good for those fighting to preserve gun rights – at least in terms of both these challenges to semiautomatic rifle bans being upheld. The question is, will the Supreme Court find a way to narrow its ruling to leave in place the many other similar bans currently in effect across the country? Or will the justices finally put a nail in the coffin of this chapter of the gun rights war?
Virginia Democrats recently banned the sale, transfer, and even the possession of a range of semiautomatic rifles labeled “assault weapons” because they resemble military rifles, but after a judge issued an injunction against the new law, it has officially been suspended until 2027. By that time, the Supreme Court may render it unconstitutional.
The Never-Ending Gun Rights War
On another front in the gun rights war, certain blue states, including California, Maryland, and Connecticut, have passed or are working on legislation that bans most semiautomatic handguns. It all began with Glock, one of the most common handguns in the US. Because certain handguns can be fitted with a “Glock switch” – a device that allows the weapon to mimic automatic fire (though the device does not actually convert the gun to full-auto) – anti-gun lawmakers dreamed up the idea of insisting these weapons can be converted into “machine guns.”
This is a backdoor tactic aimed at banning almost all the most common firearms in America. The dual assault – no pun intended – on both modern sporting rifles and handguns is not about public safety, since gun-control organizations don’t consider the number of times defensive gun use by civilians has prevented, or may well have prevented, violent crimes and loss of life. It is about disarming the population and gutting the nation’s long history of armed civilians.
The war to protect gun rights may only be metaphorical, but war it is. And the fact that it must be fought constantly, even though the people’s right to keep and bear arms uninfringed is protected by the Bill of Rights, is a clear indictment of those who have little regard for the founding principles of this country.
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