Supreme Court allows AR-15 ban in this state
abcnews.go.com
The Supreme Court turned away an appeal by a group of gun-rights advocates seeking to overturn Maryland's ban on AR-15 semi-automatic rifles under the Second Amendment.

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal by a group of gun rights advocates seeking to overturn Maryland’s ban on assault-style rifles and high-capacity magazines under the Second Amendment.

The decision, a major win for gun safety advocates, leaves in place a ruling by the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals which ruled that the state may constitutionally prohibit sale and possession of the weapons.

The state legislation, enacted in 2013 after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, specifically targets the AR-15 – the most popular rifle in America with 20-30 million in circulation. They are legal in 41 of the 50 states.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
    2·
    4 days ago

    “assault weapons” are a nebulous concept. that law sounds like it was closely tailored to match the AR-15 and its clones, since that’s the closest definition anyone can agree on. but it’s not like thumb position, stock design etc. make the AR-15 more lethal than other rifles.

    I think you missed the point of my post. The law is the opposite of what you said. Its NOT the nebulous concept. In the language of the law (which I linked) they have all kinds of criteria that apply to lots of guns that aren’t and don’t look like the AR-15 platform.

    why don’t they just ban semi-auto rifles?

    Honestly, that legislation is what makes more sense to me if thats what they’re going for. I’d modify your language slight to be “single action”, instead of non “semi automatic”.

      • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
        1·
        3 days ago

        What is your definition of your proposed “ban semi-auto rifles”? In other words, what is a rifle that is not semi-automatic?

        • PyroNeurosis@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          2·
          3 days ago

          Semi-automatic is a specific type of action where after firing, the bolt removes the spent case and chambers the next round without further manual input from the operator as would be required in lever actions, bolt actions, etc.

          Well, semi-automatic also interrupts the action so it only gives one shot per trigger pull, versus burst mechanisms or fully automatic.

          So as for what is not a semi-automatic? Any gun requiring manual operation to clear the spent case and chamber a new round or can fire more than one round per trigger pull.