By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Hot on the heels of the Virginia General Assembly’s passage of legislation to prohibit the importation, purchase, sale, transfer or manufacturing of so-called “assault weapons,” a senior writer at the Washington Examiner ripped the U.S. Supreme Court for repeatedly dodging a case challenging the constitutionality of such gun bans.
WSLS in Richmond is reporting that SB 749 is headed to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk. The bill also bans the sale of “large-capacity” magazines.
Writing at the Washington Examiner, David Harsanyi states, “Sooner or later, the Supreme Court is going to have to stop evading the question of state bans on semiautomatic rifles and magazine capacity. Because any justice that adheres to the District of Columbia v. Heller decision couldn’t possibly believe either passes constitutional muster.”
The high court, under Chief Justice John Roberts, has been kicking the proverbial can down the road far too long, many in the Second Amendment community complain. The court has had several opportunities to take a case challenging such an “assault weapons” ban by states, but has pushed the issue off.
Harsanyi ridicules claims that the AR-15 and similar rifles are responsible for much of the U.S. mayhem, noting that the rifle may be responsible for less than 3 percent of homicides in any given year.
“More people are killed by punches and kicks than by AR-15s,” he writes; a fact easily confirmed by checking the FBI annual uniform crime report.
Far more people are beaten, strangled or stomped to death than are killed in any given year with rifles (of any kind) or shotguns.
Recently, a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that the District’s ban on “large-capacity” magazines violates the Second Amendment, and is therefore unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, WTOP News is reporting that the Virginia House of Delegates passed HB217, which also bans rifles and magazines. The station noted how “Democrats in both chambers are advancing sweeping gun control legislation” as the legislative session nears adjournment.
A report in Reason details a dozen pieces of legislation Virginia Democrats have passed to “trample gun rights” in the Commonwealth.
