The Thread Where We Discuss Guns and Gun Control

[Broken_Erika]

US gun laws: Judge overturns California assault weapons ban

A California judge has overturned the state's ban on assault weapons, describing the popular AR-15 rifle as "good for both home and battle".

Federal judge Roger Benitez said the law went against the constitutional Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Judge Benitez found that the way California defines military-style rifles deprives the state's residents of weapons allowed elsewhere in the US.

Governor Gavin Newsom described the ruling as a threat to public safety.

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the authorities would appeal against the decision, which the judge suspended for 30 days to allow the appeal to be lodged.

In the opening to his ruling, Judge Benitez wrote: "Like the Swiss Army knife, the popular AR-15 rifle is a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense equipment. Good for both home and battle."

He said current California legislation banned "fairly ordinary, popular, modern rifles".

"This case is not about extraordinary weapons lying at the outer limits of Second Amendment protection. The banned 'assault weapons' are not bazookas, howitzers, or machine guns. Those arms are dangerous and solely useful for military purposes," the ruling said.

In a preliminary decision last year, the judge said California's complex definition of assault weapons meant ordinary gun-owners could unwittingly end up owning an illegal firearm.

Governor Newsom, a Democrat, described the ruling as "a slap in the face to families who've lost loved ones to this weapon" - the AR-15.

Justice Department officials have defended the law, saying that assault weapons were more dangerous and often used by criminals and in mass shootings.

Friday's ruling followed a lawsuit filed in 2019 by a range of gun advocacy groups. They claimed that California law means gunowners cannot use high-capacity magazines on normal rifles without falling foul of the assault weapons ban.

The first assault weapons restrictions were introduced in California in 1989, and the state has some of the tightest curbs on firearms in the US.

The ruling came amid continuing concern about US gun violence, which President Joe Biden has described as an epidemic.

California suffered a mass shooting only last month, when an employee at a rail yard in San Jose killed nine people before turning the gun on himself.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57368211

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

"good for both home and battle".

 

[Kyriakos]

Why hasn't anyone used an armed drone for mass killings in the US?
One would suspect that at least that way they'd have some chance of not being identified, let alone gunned down in turn.

 

[Spidernova]

Why hasn't anyone used an armed drone for mass killings in the US?
One would suspect that at least that way they'd have some chance of not being identified, let alone gunned down in turn.

I think the big thing there is weight, at least for civilian drones. Guns and bullets are heavy, and I think that explosives would be the weapon of choice.
Remember, even the police used an explosive suicide drone to blow up that guy in Dallas.

 

[choxorn]

Why hasn't anyone used an armed drone for mass killings in the US?
One would suspect that at least that way they'd have some chance of not being identified, let alone gunned down in turn.

A good number of mass killers don't really care whether you identify them or not, either because they want to be notorious, they fully intend to be one of the dead bodies, or both.

 

[Kyriakos]

A good number of mass killers don't really care whether you identify them or not, either because they want to be notorious, they fully intend to be one of the dead bodies, or both.

It would make sense if one is a serial killer, out for the longer run

 

[choxorn]

Serial killers and spree killers are generally different in how they operate, though. A serial killer probably doesn't kill more than one or two people at once but kills many times, a spree killer kills a lot of people all at one time.

 

[Kyriakos]

A drone could be used by a serial killer too, moreover due to not having to rival Rambo in firepower, it could be a very small drone, maybe even acting as a remote-controlled machete.
Or, better yet, a remote-control ninja shuriken.

The victim retires to their room, picks up a book to read, then the inconspicuous transistor-equipped drone shuriken cuts into their throat, before flying off into the night.

 

[Sofista]

As they say, you should get into the mind of the mass murderer or serial killer.
Then it becomes clear that a drone does not hold a candle to a good old-fashioned gun (boom-headshot) or carving knife. So impersonal, so clinical.

 

[Kyriakos]

As they say, you should get into the mind of the mass murderer or serial killer.
Then it becomes clear that a drone does not hold a candle to a good old-fashioned gun (boom-headshot) or carving knife. So impersonal, so clinical.

Maybe one can be a serial killer, but not care about being in the room when the other person dies?
After all, war criminals rarely are physically present in the carnage.

I'd hazard the (not educated on the subject) guess that if a serial killer would just use drones, they wouldn't have any clear sexual element in their motive. I mean, unless they used the drone in such a way too

 

[Akka]

Maybe one can be a serial killer, but not care about being in the room when the other person dies?

Seems unlikely. That's a reasoning for a professional assassin, not a sadist. Serial killers kill because they take pleasure in it or are subject to murderous impulse, neither do fit well with the clinical, long distance, out of eye "drone strike".

After all, war criminals rarely are physically present in the carnage.

Motives are entirely different.

 

[Kyriakos]

Seems unlikely. That's a reasoning for a professional assassin, not a sadist. Serial killers kill because they take pleasure in it or are subject to murderous impulse, neither do fit well with the clinical, long distance, out of eye "drone strike".

Motives are entirely different.

Drones are known to include cameras
There are serial killers who were content to just be in the vicinity, such as doctors or nurses who tampered with drugs or used lethal doses.

 

[sherbz]

So just found this out. In the States you can get a Covid vaccine AND a chance to win a shotgun or rifle. Its at times like this when I think that Americans are in a whole world of their own. Any other country this idea would either be ridiculed. Or even deemed outright dangerous to public safety (which it probably is). But America - nope - all is well. I just dont get it.

 

[Rashiminos]

As American as apple pie.

 

[Lexicus]

But America - nope - all is well. I just dont get it.

please help, the killer is inside the house

 

[Bugfatty300]

If you can buy them why can't you win them?

BTW the trucks given out as prizes will certainly kill more people.

They should just drop the contest crap and offer $150 gift cards to all who vaccinate.

 

[Farm Boy]

As American as apple pie.

Darn skippy.

 

[El_Machinae]

Honestly, I think it's awesome. I mean, I giggle, but it's a real giggle.
I think we should all just accept that it's a country that likes guns. If you can get a gun for opening a bank account, you should be able to get a gun for volunteering to defend your community!

 

[Bugfatty300]

Honestly, I think it's awesome. I mean, I giggle, but it's a real giggle.
I think we should all just accept that it's a country that likes guns. If you can get a gun for opening a bank account, you should be able to get a gun for volunteering to defend your community!

Inoculate against COVID and deer related traffic accidents.

 

[Rashiminos]

Back in the day you were fined if your household did not have a gun and a member trained in its use.