U.S. federal judge overturns California's ban on assault weapons
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[June 07, 2021]
By Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge overturned
California's 32-year-old ban on assault weapons on Friday, describing it
as a "failed experiment" and prompting scathing criticism from the
state's governor and attorney general.
California has prohibited the sale of assault weapons since 1989. The
ban was challenged in a 2019 lawsuit against California's attorney
general by plaintiffs including James Miller, a state resident, and the
San Diego County Gun Owners, a political action committee.
"This case is about what should be a muscular constitutional right and
whether a state can force a gun policy choice that impinges on that
right with a 30-year-old failed experiment," judge Roger Benitez of the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California wrote in the
court order filed late on Friday.
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"Government is not free to impose its own new policy choices on American
citizens where Constitutional rights are concerned," the order added.
"It is declared that these statutes unconstitutionally infringe the
Second Amendment rights of California citizens," the court filing
concluded. The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution
guarantees citizens the right to bear arms.
The federal judge said that he had granted a 30-day stay of the ruling
at the request of California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a move that
would allow Bonta to appeal it.
"Today's decision is fundamentally flawed, and we will be appealing it,"
Bonta said in a statement.
Seven states, including California, and the District of Columbia have
enacted laws banning assault weapons, according to the Giffords Law
Center, a gun-control group.
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![](../images/060721pics/news_I15.jpg)
AR-15 style rifles are displayed for sale at Firearms Unknown, a gun
store in Oceanside, California, U.S., April 12, 2021. REUTERS/Bing
Guan
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Gun control is a politically divisive subject in the
United States, which has experienced a significant number of deadly
mass shootings at schools and other public venues for decades.
California Governor Gavin Newsom described Friday's overturning of
the ban on assault weapons as a direct threat to public safety and
called it a "disgusting slap" in the face to those who have lost
loved ones to gun violence.
"The fact that this judge compared the AR-15 – a weapon of war
that's used on the battlefield – to a Swiss army knife completely
undermines the credibility of this decision," the governor said in a
statement.
"Like the Swiss army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect
combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment,"
the judge had said in the order filed on Friday.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Clelia Oziel)
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