California Judge: 2nd Amendment Does NOT Cover Semiautomatic Rifles

A federal judge in California has issued a ruling stating that the Second Amendment doesn’t apply to semiautomatic rifles, setting a pretty dangerous precent for future lawsuits.

The ruling came in response to a suit brought on by the California Rifle & Pistol Association. U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton of Santa Ana, California, an Obama appointee, says that semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 are virtually indistinguishable from military-grade weapons like the M-16, and thus don’t qualify for civilian uses such as self-defense.

Judge Staton’s ruling upholds California’s current law regarding semiautomatic rifles, which bans the sale and manufacture of “semiautomatic rifles and the bullet buttons that alter a conventional rifle into a rapid-fire weapon.”

This ruling is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, as most readers are surly aware, comparing weapons like the AR-15 to an M-16 — or any military weapon at all — is ridiculous. There isn’t a single standing military that uses AR-15s, precisely because it would essentially render infantry groups useless. On the battlefield, the AR-15 is completely outclassed by just about any small arm used by legitimate military forces, including Soviet-era rifles like the AK-47.

Clearly, this judge and others like her have been severely misled by the litany of bad information about semiautomatics — and firearms in general.

Here is YouTube’s Guns & Gadgets channel to clear up some of the misinformation, and more about the lawsuit.