A case on the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket” could strike down state and local bans on AR-15s and similar assault weapons, favorite firearms of mass murderers. The plaintiff, the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR), is basically the NRA on meth.
“The case challenges a Naperville, Illinois, ordinance and a similar Illinois state law, both of which ban assault weapons, which the state law defines to include certain semiautomatic rifles such as AR-15s and AK-47s. Additionally, the state law prohibits the sale of a “large capacity ammunition feeding device,” which the statute defines as long gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or handgun magazines that hold more than 15 bullets.”
— “A new Supreme Court case seeks to legalize assault weapons in all 50 states,” Ian Millhiser, Vox
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“Judge in Virginia Strikes Down Federal Limit on Age of Handgun Buyers,” Glenn Thrush, New York Times
“18-to-20-year-olds can’t be barred from buying handguns, judge rules,” Salvador Rizzo, Washington Post
“Children and teens are more likely to die by guns than anything else,” Annette Choi, CNN
“Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the U.S. and Peer Countries,” Matt McGough, Krutika Amin, Nirmita Panchal, and Cynthia Cox, KFF Global Health Policy
In 1991, conservative former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger said the idea that there was an individual right to bear arms was “a fraud”:
“This has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime. Now just look at those words. There are only three lines in that amendment. “A well regulated militia”—of the militia, which was going to be the state army, was going to be well-regulated, why shouldn’t 16 and 17 and 18 or any other age persons be regulated in the use or arms the way an automobile is regulated?”
More:
“How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment,” Michael Waldman, Politico
“Not So Long Ago, the Second Amendment Didn’t Guarantee the Right to Own a Gun,” Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine
“7th Person Dies Day After Highland Park Parade Mass Shooting,” NBC 5 Chicago
More:
“Horror on the Fourth: Suspect in custody after 6 killed, dozens wounded at Highland Park Fourth of July parade,” Lynn Sweet, Manny Ramos, Elvia Malagón and Sophie Sherry, Chicago Sun-Times
“Guns Killed More Than 220 People Over July 4 Weekend Alone,” Alice Tecotzky, Daily Beast
“Marjorie Taylor Greene Tweets Predictably Fact-Free Theory About Highland Park Massacre,” Zachary Petrizzo, Daily Beast
“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion
The Supreme Court of the United States thinks you should be able to carry a concealed handgun in public just because you think it’s cool and want to feel like a big shot. For over a century, New York had required gun owners to have a reason to carry a concealed weapon. Police issued concealed carry permits to business owners who carry bags of cash to a bank’s night deposit facility, those who had a demonstrable proper cause to be concerned for their personal safety, and so on. Now any dumb schmuck who hasn’t been caught committing a crime — yet — will be enabled to do so, with deadly consequences, thanks to six SCOTUS conservative ideologues. That doesn’t sound like a “well-regulated militia” to us.
What can you expect?
More gunshot deaths, murders and suicides.
More civilians killed by police, who will be more likely to assume that anyone they come into contact with is armed with a concealed deadly weapon.
More:
“Supreme Court strikes down New York’s concealed carry gun law,” Oriana Gonzalez, Axios
“U.S. Supreme Court expands gun rights, strikes down New York law,” Andrew Chung and Lawrence Hurley, Reuters
“Supreme Court strikes N.Y. law, finds right to carry guns outside home,” Robert Barnes and Ann E. Marimow, Washington Post
“SCOTUS Strikes Down New York Gun Control Law, Expanding Gun Rights In Wake Of Mass Shootings,” Kate Riga, Talking Points Memo
At least 19 children and 2 teachers were shot to death at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday. The victims were in a single 4th grade classroom. The teenaged perpetrator wore body armor but was shot dead by police. The shooter was legally able to buy his assault-style rifle this month, the day after his 18th birthday.
In other Texas news, the National Rifle Association will hold its annual meeting in Houston on Friday. Scheduled speakers include Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R), Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R), South Dakota Governor Kristi L. Noem (R), Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R, TX-2), and former president Donald J. Trump. At this time, no grieving parents from Uvalde are on the agenda.
More:
“21 killed at Uvalde elementary in Texas’ deadliest school shooting ever,” Sneha Dey, Texas Tribune
“Firearms are now the leading cause of death for U.S. children,” Peter Weber, The Week
“‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens,” The Onion
“While the Second Amendment protects every citizen’s right to own a gun, it does not require taxpayers to subsidize that right,” said San José mayor Sam Liccardo in a statement.
U.S. states and DC require automobile drivers to obtain liability insurance or post cash bonds against liability, and motor vehicles, unlike firearms, aren’t even designed to be killing machines. Nowhere does the Second Amendment forbid a well-regulated program to ensure firearms responsiblity.
More:
“San Jose passes first U.S. law requiring gun owners to get liability insurance and pay annual fee,” CBS News
“A city will require gun owners to have liability insurance in an effort to incentivize safety,” Timothy Bella, Washington Post
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