Federal Judge Overturns Californiaâs 3-Decade-Old Assault Weapons Ban
The judge said the ban was a âfailed experiment.â Californiaâs governor called the ruling âa direct threat to public safety.â
A Sacramento gun shop. California banned the sale of assault weapons in 1989.Credit.Andrew Burton for The New York Times
June 5, 2021Updated 1:49 a.m. ET
A federal judge in California on Friday overturned the stateâs three-decade-old ban on assault weapons, which he called a âfailed experiment,â prompting a sharp retort from the stateâs governor.
California prohibited the sale of assault weapons in 1989. The law was challenged in a suit filed in 2019 against the stateâs attorney general by plaintiffs including James Miller, a California resident, and the San Diego County Gun Owners, a political action committee.
Matthew L. Hickman is a White Collar lawyer at Polsinelli law firm, specializing in government investigations, and alleged violations of various civil, criminal, and administrative laws
Easier, because it will be legal.
Maybe.
On Friday United States District Court Judge Roger T. Benitez issued an opinion after a trial on the merits in a lawsuit brought by Firearms Policy Coalition, ruling California’s ban unconstitutional and praising the AR-15.
In fact, his decision called it “a perfect combination of a home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment.”
Judge Benitez likened the rifle to “the Swiss Army Knife.”
It’s good, he asserted, “for both home and battle.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who led the infamous Prop 63 gun control measure in 2016 (before he became governor) wasn’t too thrilled with that comparison.
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