The Real Revo – by R.D. Walker
The ruling states that modern sporting rifles such as AR and AK platforms are not ‘unusual’ or especially dangerous and are, in fact, in common use in the United States as defensive weapons. The same argument applies to standard capacity magazines. These firearms are, therefore, protected under the Second Amendment for civilian use. It sent the lower court’s ruling back for reevaluation.
A Federal appeals court dealt a potentially serious blow to Maryland’s landmark 2013 gun control law and similar measures across the country, ruling Tuesday that a lower court was wrong when it upheld the state’s ban on assault rifles.
In a 2-1 decision applauded by gun rights advocates, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit concluded that the semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines banned by Maryland’s Firearm Safety Act “are in common use by law-abiding citizens.” As a result, they don’t fall under the exception to the right to bear arms that applies to “unusual” weapons such as machine guns and hand grenades, the court said.
Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said Thursday that the decision “conflicts sharply with rulings of other federal appellate courts.” Frosh said he would appeal — either to the full 15-member 4th Circuit or to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The lower court must now use “strict scrutiny” to uphold the Maryland law banning the rifles and magazines. This is a very difficult, but not impossible, hurdle for the court to jump. More to come.
Although I will never rely on any court to determine my rights, this is good news because it will make it easier for people in crappy states to buy quality weapons.
By the way, ARs and AKs are not “sporting rifles,” even if some people use them as such.
Competetive high power shooting – Sport
Using an AR platform rifle to hunt – Sport
Weekend shooting with friends or family – Sport
Saying an AR of AK is not a “sporting rifle” is the same stupidity as saying they’re only “assault rifles”.
Hello…? I already acknowledged that some people use ARs and AKs for sports. That doesn’t change the fact that ARs and AKs were designed for combat and are NOT “sporting rifles.” I could use a belt-fed machine gun for hunting, but that wouldn’t make the belt-fed machine gun a “sporting firearm.” It was designed for a different purpose.
Trying to pass off these rifles as “sporting rifles” is a cop-out. It’s a concession to those who believe common citizens shouldn’t own military weapons. We have every damn right to own military weapons, so there’s no point in pretending that we don’t own rifles that are identical in every way to those the military uses (other than the useless “fun switch” — which rarely if ever gets used, and which even some military rifles don’t have). Instead of saying, “These weapons are just for playing games,” we should be affirming our right to own them and explaining why we have that right.
Sporting rifle, assault rifle, black rifle, hunting rifle, military style rifle, personal protection rifle, etc
Every artificial and fabricated classification only confuses the argument. It concedes the “all firearms are created equal, except some firearms are more/less equal than others” assertion before the conversation even starts.
It is Miler v. U.S. we get the same weapons as the Military.
really where my RPG ?
Awesome that means…
Ass Salt and Pepperin mthrfkn rifles are covered too!
Now if they could just cover all the punji stick traps .. that would be totally kewl!