Kenner Police Lieutenant Wayne P. McInnis, holds an American Manufactured AR-15 Assault Rifle in Kenner, La., a suburb of New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008.Judi Bottoni / ASSOCIATED PRESS
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s ban on 45 kinds of assault weapons and its 10-round limit on gun magazines were upheld Tuesday by a federal appeals court in a decision that met with a strongly worded dissent.
In a 10-4 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, said the guns banned under Maryland’s law aren’t protected by the Second Amendment.
“Put simply, we have no power to extend Second Amendment protections to weapons of war,” Judge Robert King wrote for the court, adding that the Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller explicitly excluded such coverage.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, who led the push for the law in 2013 as a state senator, said it’s “unthinkable that these weapons of war, weapons that caused the carnage in Newtown and in other communities across the country, would be protected by the Second Amendment.”
AR-15 rifles. Scott Olson / Getty Images
“It’s a very strong opinion, and it has national significance, both because it’s en-banc and for the strength of its decision,” Frosh said, noting that all of the court’s judges participated.
Judge William Traxler issued a dissent. By concluding the Second Amendment doesn’t even apply, Traxler wrote, the majority “has gone to greater lengths than any other court to eviscerate the constitutionally guaranteed right to keep and bear arms.” He also wrote that the court did not apply a strict enough review on the constitutionality of the law.
“For a law-abiding citizen who, for whatever reason, chooses to protect his home with a semi-automatic rifle instead of a semi-automatic handgun, Maryland’s law clearly imposes a significant burden on the exercise of the right to arm oneself at home, and it should at least be subject to strict scrutiny review before it is allowed to stand,” Traxler wrote.
National Rifle Association spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said, “It is absurd to hold that the most popular rifle in America is not a protected ‘arm’ under the Second Amendment.” She added that the majority opinion “clearly ignores the Supreme Court’s guidance from District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects arms that are ‘in common use at the time for lawful purposes like self-defense.'”
The NRA estimates there are 5 million to 10 million AR-15s — one of the weapons banned under Maryland’s law — in circulation in the United States for lawful purposes. Asked about an appeal, Baker said the NRA is exploring all options.
But Elizabeth Banach, executive director of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence, said the decision is “overwhelming proof that reasonable measures to prevent gun violence are constitutional.”
“Maryland’s law needs to become a national model of evidence-based policies that will reduce gun violence,” Banach wrote in a statement.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake upheld the ban in 2015, but a divided three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that she didn’t apply the proper legal standard. The panel sent the case back to Blake and ordered her to apply “strict scrutiny,” a more rigorous test of a law’s constitutionality. The state appealed to the full appeals court.
Maryland passed the sweeping gun-control measure after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that killed 20 children and six educators in Connecticut. King mentioned the massacre at the start of the ruling.
“Both before and after Newtown, similar military-style rifles and detachable magazines have been used to perpetrate mass shootings in places whose names have become synonymous with the slaughters that occurred there,” King wrote. He listed the 2012 shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado; the December 2015 shootings in San Bernardino, California; and the shootings last year at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub, where 49 people were killed and 53 injured.
King also noted that enacting the law is “precisely the type of judgment that legislatures are allowed to make without second-guessing by a court.”
“Simply put, the State has shown all that is required: a reasonable, if not perfect, fit between the (Firearms Safety Act) and Maryland’s interest in protecting public safety,” King wrote.
Now some of you folks can call me a coward or pussy as much as you want to. It don’t matter to me. But I just do not want to be pulling metal and other stuff out of the old carcass of mine.
Talk about rare as hen’s teeth! They made less than 2000 of these puppies & add to the fact the great condition and all the extras like the holster, tools etc.
Now how the Hell can a Pistol or any gun be boring you ask, oh Gentle Reader?
Well Grasshopper let me clue you in on my thoughts on this matter.
One of the reasons on why I have stuck with this hobby of mine. Is the pursuit of putting a round center of mass or a perfect Bulls Eye at a Reasonable distance.
Now I am not the best shot in world nor am I the Worst one either.
But I do know for Red Hot Gospel that I will never legally wear the Patch of the President’s 100.
(I saw one of these guys shoot once. To say that I was impressed is not the complete truth. I think Thunderstruck would be a better phrase.)
This guy is a serious Bad Ass by the way!
I also know that the only time I will be at Camp Perry Ohio. Was when I got to go to the CMP Shop there.
( I had a hell of a good time there by the way. So I most highly recommend going there if you have a chance. Plus I got a whale of a deal on buying my M-1 Garand thru the CMP Program.)
But that’s just the way it is and I can live it. But enough of that matter.
***Trigger warning as I am going to talk about Guns now & give my honest opinions which might piss off a few folks***********
Now usually when I buy a gun. It is usually a used one as I can not afford a new one generally. (I am also one cheap SOB when it comes to spending my hard earned money as a general principal of mine.)
That & also most guns I covet are made back in the “Good Old Days”. When ever that was.
Then I have to usually have to take to a Gun Smith and have it tuned up or fixed one way or another. I am sure that some of you Folks have gone down the that Road also.
What that means is stuff like putting on a scope or a recoil pad, replacing an ejector etc etc.
But enough of that. Anyways about 29 years ago, I was cruising the local Gun Shops to see what was on the block for sale. Where upon I had spied a very interesting looking Bruiser of a Pistol.
The Bruiser as I call it now, was a Sig-Saur P-220 in 45 ACP.
Now I have had a bunch of Issues with the 45 ACP in my life.
The Bad Issues
I have either owned, borrowed or been issued a whole mess of the various forms of the 1911’s over the years. Maybe it me or something. But every one of them from a Gold Cup to a tired old WWII Ithaca has had problems with me on the firing line. You name it and it happened to me.
I also had the same problem with a Colt New Service, a S&W 1917 & with the half moon clips you need with them. Neither one of them shot worth a hoot for me. But then again I am not a crack pistol shot either.
So I was about to just give it up and try some other caliber for a Auto Pistol.
The Great & Only Reason for me to even think about the 1911a1
My Dad was in the very early Part of Korean war. (The Pusan Perimeter & up to the Yalu)
Where one time he was jumped by some of the Bad Guys. Who foolishly thought that he was unarmed. Problem for them was that he was packing a Colt Combat Commander & knew how to use it.
Bottom Line he got a Bronze Star for that stunt.
Also he was then able to go back to the land of the Big PX. While they & some other folks did not get back home & no gongs for them either.
So here is my conundrum – If it had not been for that Round & that 1991a1 variation. I would not be boring you right now with my rantings. Go figure!
Now back to the Sig. I had heard a lot of good things about this series pistols from Folks that I either knew or had a good reputation from others I trust.
Then it happened. As I went to one of the local gun shops. Where I spied a P-220 for sale. So I nicely ask to take a look at it and was impressed by it. Especially since it was new in box.
Also as a added plus it did not have the European Magazine release on the heel. But instead had the classic Browning Magazine Release where it belonged near the trigger. So far so good right?
It was then I looked at the price tag. O.M.G.! It was over $700 in late 1980’s money! YIKES! Since that worked out to be well over two weeks take home pay. That as I a Substitute Teacher was making at the time.
What to do? As this could be another disaster in the making with my past history with this round.
Also there was no way in hell that I had that much excess cash on me. Again, What to do?
So taking a page out of Stonewall Jackson’s Advice Book. “I did not take counsel of my fears.”
Figuring that if it is a Turkey and can’t shoot. Then I either sell it or trade for something else.
Also the owner was willing to take a small risk and would do a layaway payment on my part. May God Bless them for the chance that they gave me!
So after almost a couple of months of payments. Then jumping thru the hoops of The Peoples Republic of Sacramento requires to exercise my 2nd Amendment Rights.
I was finally able to take it to the local indoor range and put it thru its paces. So up goes the target and I send it out.
Now the Sig has a very nice if low front & rear sight system. But it also has a very nice and simple 3 glow in the dark dots on them.
It also has a great grip that was just the right size for my paws. It’s a pity that it is a single stack but you can not have everything. right?
So I picked up “The Bruiser” up and drew down on the target. All the while using a weaver stance and grip that I learned while in the Army. Then took a deep breath, let half of it out and squeeze one off.
Now imagine my shock. As to when I get my vision back and was able to see the target. Its almost a 1/4 inch from dead center. Okay Beginners luck right?
But then it happens again. Nah can’t be! But 5 more rounds down range and the X Ring is gone. Needless to say I am one very Happy Camper at this moment!
Now for some other Great News! This pistol still is earning its pay. Even after I have put easily several hundreds of rounds thru it.
Also I have put every kind of brand of ammo thru it. From the Best the Market has to offer and that other stuff that I can get out here. To some of the nastiest stuff that I found over the years.
Bottom line – It just looks at me and says I had worst than this. It then just eats it up and performs like the Champ it is. Or we use to say in the Green Machine, W.E.T.S.U. – We Eat This Shit Up!
The other good news is that it is a lot and I mean a lot easier to clean than the 1911. In that you do not have to line up anything for the retaining / slide release.
You also do not have to worry so much about flying recoil caps and springs. Who seem to take great happiness in disappearing & hiding from you.
Some other good news is that generally I have to take at least an hour plus to clean a 1911 properly. With the Sig on the other hand. The longest I have had to taken to clean it was just under 30 minutes. Something that is worth thinking about.
My only complaint is the lack of a safety on it, But then I have never trusted safeties. Also the I do not trust the decocking device. Since it is a matter of faith that I do not have when it comes to guns.
Just kidding folks as they are the ultimate protected species as for the near future. They are all extinct unless “Jurassic Park” is based on fact. Which I doubt it myself!
While Senate Democrats relentlessly push a ban on “assault weapons,” they face a rank and file resistance that rests on the fact that the AR-15 is “America’s rifle.”
Former U.S. Marine Eugene Stoner designed the AR-15 in the 1950s. A full-auto version of the rifle–dubbed the M16–was adapted for military service during the Vietnam War. Then, in the 1980s, a semiautomatic AR-15 for civilians was widely produced.
The rifle grew in popularity, going from a cult following in early civilian production to the widespread, near-familial loyalty the rifle inspires today.
This change occurred as the rifle went from being made by a handful of manufacturers in the 1980s to being made by nearly every major gun manufacturer in the 21st century. And the love for the AR-15 is not limited to older generations.
On November 20, 2017, Breitbart News reported that millennials offer the most opposition to the Democrat push for an “assault weapons” ban.
The rifle that began with Stoner’s design spawned an automatic variant used in Vietnam, and then came to dominate the semiautomatic market in U.S. gun stores.
It is now beloved for target shooting, hunting, and self-defense. It is a reliable weapon and one with which gun owners can quickly become familiar. And like the renowned and timeless 1911 handgun, a thriving aftermarket of accessories and parts are available for AR-15 rifles.
NBC News sums up these things by describing the AR-15 as “America’s Rifle.” It is so popular that “one of out of every five firearms purchased in this country is an AR-style rifle.”
Twenty-three-year-old Evan Daire works a gun range in New Jersey. He spoke about the AR-15, saying, “It’s kind of the standard, de-facto rifle now. No matter what role you’re looking at, it pretty much fills that role.”
Nevertheless, Democrats and their gun control surrogates in the establishment media seize on the fact that an AR-15–or AR variant–was used by attackers at the Aurora movie theater, Sandy Hook Elementary, San Bernardino, California, Orlando Pulse, and Sutherland Springs church attack. Those who cite these attacks overlook the fact that the attacks do far more to undermine gun control than to bolster arguments for it.
For example, the Aurora movie theater, Sandy Hook Elementary, the San Bernardino County Building, and Orlando Pulse were all gun-free zones. This means law-abiding citizens were defenseless regardless of the kind of firearm used by the attacker.
And in the case of Sutherland Springs, no one in the small, neighborhood church was armed when Devin Kelley opened fire on November 5, 2017. Again, this means that Kelley had the upper hand regardless of what type of weapon he used. All these attacks bolster arguments for being sure law-abiding citizens are armed to shoot back.
American gun owners understand these things, which is why the Democrats’ ongoing push to ban AR-15s has failed to gain traction. In fact, every time a gun controller pushes an “assault weapons” ban, one of the millions upon millions of AR-15 owners can point to the way he legally uses his AR to hunt, target shoot, or defend his life and home.
The AR-15 really is “America’s rifle.” AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
