Striking Down Gun & Ammo Laws – Wishful Thinking

It would be nice if we could add the draconian California micro-stamping and lead ban laws along with the pending insane ammunition bill to Connecticut’s list as suggested by the following opinion from the Republican American (Waterbury, CT). The article contends that “guidance” offered by the Court will prove to be contentious for years to come.

Unfortunately, the SCOTUS case will only decide on the individual ownership issue without regard to whacko laws that over regulate our legally-owned weapons and tax us to death with fees. Any guidance given will likely be ignored by states and local governments.

State Gun Bills Should Be Spiked

When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy says the Bill of Rights guarantees Americans’ “general right to bear arms,” chances are very good the tone and direction of the long national debate over gun laws is about to change radically.

. . .

It’s good that justices finally will rule the Second Amendment guarantees the individual right to bear arms, but their desire to offer guidance on what constitutes “reasonable” and “common-sense” gun restrictions may prove problematic for legislatures, lower courts and law-abiding citizens for years to come. What a sportsman would consider common sense, for example, no doubt would seem unreasonable to a gun-controller.

With the gun debate changing so dramatically, it makes sense for Connecticut lawmakers to shelve the two unreasonable gun-control bills under consideration. The first would mandate serial numbers on bullets, the second, firing pins that stamp a code on the shell cartridge.

In theory, these measures would enable police to trace the bullets to their owner. But in the real world, the serial number would be obliterated the instant the bullet strikes an object less malleable than lead. Meanwhile, the stamping technology is in its infancy, is easily defeated, would not be required on the types of guns favored by criminals, and would require gun companies to retool their manufacturing and assembly processes; most have said it would be more economical to move their operations and high-paying jobs to other states. Finally, both bills would impose expensive unfunded costs on state and local police without guaranteeing any improvement in public safety.

Lawmakers should be in no hurry to enact gun-control laws that justices likely will vaporize when they strike down the D.C. gun ban in June.

I added the emphasis.