By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The Trace—the Michael Bloomberg-backed pro-gun-control news organ—is admitting in a new report that the U.S. Supreme Court “is likely to strike down” bans on so-called “assault weapons” nationwide “by next year.”
It’s a stunning acknowledgement from the voice of the gun prohibition lobby, which notes three paragraphs into its Wednesday report, “The ruling against New Jersey’s assault weapons ban is likely only the first, and could mark the beginning of the end for similar laws in nearly a dozen states.
“Delaware’s assault weapons ban — enacted in 2022 in response to back-to-back mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo — is likely next,” The Trace report predicts. “Delaware sits within the 3rd Circuit, and a district court judge hearing an unresolved challenge to the state’s ban will be bound by the appellate court’s decision. The decision could also affect a ban in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is also within the 3rd Circuit.”
The story comes as a revolt against Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s gun control agenda is taking shape in the Old Dominion. As noted by the Virginia Mercury, “Virginia’s new assault weapons ban…remains tied up in a series of legal challenges that have essentially stalled enforcement across the commonwealth.”
Confirmation that this fight is just beginning to heat up was Tuesday’s 10-1 vote by the Montgomery County Council passing new gun control legislation which adds restrictions on so-called “ghost guns” and prohibits the carrying of firearms in some public places, according to Fox News local. Even before the ink has dried, Maryland Shall Issue is reportedly preparing a legal challenge, the station reported.
At the other end of the spectrum, WSLS News is reporting that a Washington County circuit judge ruled that a pair of gun control laws passed by the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year “cannot be enforced anywhere in the commonwealth.”
There may be no stronger signals anywhere that the next several months are likely to see a legal earthquake in the arena of gun rights versus gun control, with the Second Amendment movement coming out on top.
WSLS quotes Republican Virginia State Sen. Bill Stanley, who observed, “It’s always a laudable goal to create more security in the communities, but in order to create security you can’t then take away the rights of the citizenry to protect themselves.”
Even The Trace is admitting in its Wednesday report that with Republicans in control of Congress, “and courts increasingly wary” of what may happen with the Supreme Court takes up the semi-auto bans in Connecticut and Cook County, Ill., “the issue is likely to remain on the back burner.”
Still, The Trace report does not appear to soften its rhetoric.
“It’s unclear,” write reporters Chip Brownlee and Jennifer Mascia, “whether rescinding the bans will cause an increase in gun violence — or mass shootings in particular. Assault weapons have been used in most of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, and studies have found that assault weapons, combined with high-capacity magazines, may increase the death count in mass shootings. Assault weapons are maneuverable and easy to use, and they fire rounds at a higher muzzle velocity than handgun rounds, causing catastrophic damage to the body.”
However, in their next paragraph, Brownlee and Mascia acknowledge, “Mass shootings are a comparatively rare phenomenon, amounting to about 1 percent of all shootings, 3 percent of deaths from shootings, and 6 percent of shooting injuries since 2014. The Trace uses the Gun Violence Archive’s definition of mass shooting, which includes shootings resulting in four or more injuries or deaths, excluding the shooter. Most shootings — including most mass shootings — are perpetrated with handguns.”
This is information the firearms press has been reporting for several years. With the looming showdown over semiautomatic rifles, expect a lot more attention to be paid to the Second Amendment, guns and crime, concealed carry and other issues, such as “permit-to-purchase” laws and mandatory training requirements; anything which might be considered an infringement on the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
