Activists who want to ban “assault weapons,” including the popular AR-15, faced multiple setbacks this week. Legal and political events cast doubt on the future of those bans in the United States. The most obvious development was a federal judge ruling California’s ban unconstitutional. The ruling was the first time
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This week set up several significant battles. The first, and the one unlikely to last very long, is the battle over gun-carry licenses in Philadelphia.
A gun-rights group filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s largest city in state court on Monday for refusing to issue the licenses to residents. Gun Owners of America (GOA) claims the city is withholding the licenses in violation of state law. And it’s not the first time.
There have been two huge developments that will affect gun owners nationwide since last week’s newsletter. The first was a federal judge ruling California’s “assault weapons” ban unconstitutional–the first time a district judge has done that with a statewide ban. The second was the ATF releasing the proposal to ban most stabilizing pistol braces President Joe Biden requested several months ago.
Democrat Mark Levine lost, by a sizable margin, both the primary race for Lieutenant Governor and his own delegate seat. He will now be out of the Virginia government altogether despite spearheading the successful 2020 effort to expand background checks to private gun sales and institute Red Flag laws. Levine also managed to convince Democrats to pass his “assault weapons” ban through the House of Delegates that same year.
The ATF proposed a sweeping new rule on Monday that would classify millions of guns equipped with stabilizing pistol braces as short-barrel rifles. It would require them to be registered to remain legal, but the agency is putting up roadblocks that make compliance less likely than it already was.
A new rule proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) at the request of President Joe Biden would make most firearms with stabilizing pistol braces illegal. Owners would have to register, turn in, or disassemble the guns in order to avoid federal felony charges. One government estimate found as many as 40 million guns could be affected.
