2nd amendment – Page 2

Senior US District Judge Rules California’s Ban on AR-15s to Be Unconstitutional

California’s ban on AR-15s and other so-called “assault weapons” violates the Second Amendment.

Senior United States District Court Judge Roger Benitez declared Oct. 19, 2023 that California’s law making it a crime to acquire and possess many common modern semi-automatic firearms violates the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, saying the state’s “’assault weapon’ prohibition has no historical pedigree and it is extreme.”

Here are excerpts from his astute and comprehensible 79-page ruling:

“The State says criminals already have and favor using guns described as ‘assault weapons.’ Rather than being outgunned, many citizens want these same firearms as a defense against criminal attacks. Americans today own 24.4 million modern rifles (i.e., AR-15 platform and AK-47 platform rifles), according to the State’s expert. Of the AR-15 rifle owners surveyed, 61% said one reason they acquired their gun is for home defense. Consequently, while criminals already have these modern semiautomatics, the State prohibits its citizens from buying and possessing the same guns for self-defense. At the same time these firearms are commonly possessed by law-abiding gun owners elsewhere across the country.”

“Guns for self-defense are needed a lot because crime happens a lot. A recent large-scale survey estimates that guns are needed defensively approximately 1,670,000 times a year. Another report, originally commissioned and long cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that there are between 500,000 and 3,000,000 defensive gun uses in the United States each year. That is a lot of situations where Jane Doe needs a firearm to defend herself and her family. Trial testimony from hoodlums is not needed to prove that a homeowner brandishing an AR-15 can be a strong deterrent to criminal attackers. But when brandishing does not stop an attack, Jane needs an effective defense. That is where an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle can come to the rescue.”

Senior US District Judge Declares Gun Magazine Capacity Limits Unconstitutional

In 2017, Judge Roger Benitez, senior judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, struck down California’s ban on standard capacity magazines which the state had arbitrarily ruled to be “high capacity.” That ruling was overturned by an en banc Ninth Circuit ruling. The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court which vacated that ruling based on its Bruen decision, and remanded it for reconsideration. September 22, 2023, Judge Benitez struck down California’s ban as clearly unconstitutional.

Here are excerpts from his well-reasoned and articulate 71-page ruling:

“The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution ‘guarantee[s] the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation.’”

“The guarantee protects ‘the possession of weapons that are “in common use.”’”

“It’s our duty as judges to interpret the Constitution based on the text and original understanding of the relevant provision—not on public policy considerations, or worse, fear of public opprobrium.”

“This case is about a California state law that makes it a crime to keep and bear common firearm magazines typically possessed for lawful purposes. Based on the text, history, and tradition of the Second Amendment, this law is clearly unconstitutional.”

Self-Defense Legal Insurance Options

According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, 22 million Americans are legally licensed to publicly carry a firearm in the United States. That doesn’t include those who keep guns strictly in their homes for domestic protection, along with people who open carry or live in one of the more than two dozen states that don’t require licenses.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Survey: Protection Is the Main Reason People Own a Gun ]

Using a firearm to defend against a criminal act that could result in your death or serious bodily injury means you’ll have to deal with the legal aftermath to justify your firearm usage. That’s where purchasing a self-defense insurance program might be helpful.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The 5 Elements of Self-Defense Law ]

In the broad sense, “self-defense insurance” is basically a membership in an organization that will help connect you with a criminal defense attorney and help pay for legal expenses involved in a court case. As an informational service to you, we’ve compiled the list below of just such entities. Each listing includes a brief statement of the organization’s purpose taken from its website.

By semperverus
Posted on 09/05/202303/30/2024
2 Comments on Self-Defense Legal Insurance Options

Survey: Protection Is the Main Reason People Own a Gun

Gun owners in the United States continue to cite protection far more than other factors as the major reason they own a gun.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Nebraska Is Now the 27th USA State That Allows Permitless Carrying of Concealed Firearms ]

And about half of Americans (47%) who don’t own a gun say they could imagine themselves as gun owners in the future.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, The Process of Becoming a First Time Gun Owner ]

According to the Pew Research Center survey, conducted June 5-11 among 5,115 members of the Center’s nationally representative American Trends Panel, the vast majority of gun owners (81%) say they feel safer owning a gun.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Checklist: Matters to Consider When Deciding on a Handgun ]