Posted on 08/12/2014 3:39:23 PM PDT by bamahead
In what looks to be a terrible ruling for Maryland gun owners a federal judge has essentially ruled that guns that were regulated by the state of Maryland last year, including AR-15 and AK style rifles (as well as other magazine fed, semi-auto rifles with certain features), “fall outside Second Amendment protection as dangerous and unusual arms,” according to a 47 page opinion by U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake.
The case in question is Kolbe et al v. O’Malley et al which named numerous plaintiffs including the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association, and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), among others which challenged the constitutionality of Maryland’s strict new gun laws.
Here are some of Blake’s other comments [emphasis mine],
Upon review of all the parties’ evidence, the court seriously doubts that the banned assault long guns are commonly possessed for lawful purposes, particularly self-defense in the home, which is at the core of the Second Amendment right, and is inclined to find the weapons fall outside Second Amendment protection as dangerous and unusual.
First, the court is not persuaded that assault weapons are commonly possessed based on the absolute number of those weapons owned by the public. Even accepting that there are 8.2 million assault weapons in the civilian gun stock, as the plaintiffs claim, assault weapons represent no more than 3% of the current civilian gun stock, and ownership of those weapons is highly concentrated in less than 1% of the U.S. population.
The court is also not persuaded by the plaintiffs’ claims that assault weapons are used infrequently in mass shootings and murders of law enforcement officers. The available statistics indicate that assault weapons are used disproportionately to their ownership in the general public and, furthermore, cause more injuries and more fatalities when they are used.
As for their claims that assault weapons are well-suited for self-defense, the plaintiffs proffer no evidence beyond their desire to possess assault weapons for self-defense in the home that they are in fact commonly used, or possessed, for that purpose.
Finally, despite the plaintiffs’ claims that they would like to use assault weapons for defensive purposes, assault weapons are military-style weapons designed for offensive use, and are equally, or possibly even more effective, in functioning and killing capacity as their fully automatic versions.
Blake further points out that so called “assault weapons” are “disproportionately represented in mass shootings”. Blake’s comments are misguided at best and it would seem difficult to weigh her opinion against the Supreme Court’s Heller decision.
Blake is a Bill Clinton appointed judge.
I was guessing it was a female judge and....I am correct. Some days I think we live in a gyneocracy.
Not surprising coming from MD. I left that awful state in 2007. Former AG Joe Curran was a gun control nut. In 1976, there was a shooting at the state house and his father died. Not from a gunshot mind you, but from a heart attack because he was startled by the noise.
lol, and we know the internets are both unusual and dangerous.
You're just figuring that out? Despite electing male proxies to office, who has the largest pool of voters: male or female?
Surprised she’s not from your state!
These judges are going to keep pushing. I don’t answer to them or anybody else—good luck enforcing it.
I will remember to use it, when (not if) someone tells me this again. I go an extremely liberal graduate school too.
We don’t need the 4th amendment either, because that was before the invention of the “modern era SWAT team”.
It Is incomprehensible how any so called educated person could come to the conclusions this terrorists did. This is clearly a political decision, and fits the definition of terrorism perfectly. She should be arrested as a terrorists plain and simple. We need a better way to remove black robed terrorists such as her. Our congress is worthless in this regard.
Thankfully, the barrel on my rifle is a short one, 16.1" so I guess it ain't a "long rifle" eh?
Given a little time, I could probably find many more instances where a AR-15 or other similar rifle was used for self-defense than used to commit a crime. This woman is totally ignorant.
Probably, the test of “dangerous and unusual” is just wrong. And there are far more than 8 million “assault weapons” in the hands of citizens. Judges and politicians like her are why Beretta is leaving Maryland and coming to Tennessee, very near my home. Hopefully I can secure a job there.
When she’s ready, she’s more than welcome to come on up to the farm here in NW corner of PA... and become a permanent resident... with the blessing of her folks, of course. ;-)
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Hey, Judge! You want to ban these firearms? Then YOU — personally — go out and confiscate them! Do not order some lower-tier government employee to do it. YOU do it!
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
they will find out just how not unusual they are. law-abiding people own millions of these across the country.
liberal federal judges attempting to enact european gun-control and removal laws to further agenda 21 and make martial law safer for fedgov forces.
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