Assault weapons ban can withstand legal challenge

There is no surprise in the announcement that less than 24 hours after Gov. Jay Inslee signed the state’s assault-weapons ban into law — along with two other firearms safety measures — that lawsuits were filed challenging the new law’s constitutionality.

House Bill 1240, sponsored by state Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, bars the manufacture, sale and distribution of “assault weapons,” specifically 61 models of semiautomatic rifles and pistols, including the AR-15. The law does not outlaw possession of the listed weapons from those who already own them, and exceptions are made for law enforcement and the military.

Consider the AR-15. Modeled after the military’s M16, the AR-15 is now the best-selling rifle in the United States. A Washington Post story reports that about 16 million Americans — 1 in 20 — own at least one AR-15. The “gun of choice” for many mass killers, the AR-15 has been used in 10 of the 17 deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. since 2012.

Unlike more conventional firearms, the ammunition used in the AR-15 and other semiautomatic firearms fire bullets at such high velocity that the projectile doesn’t just pierce the body but deforms in the body and creates a shock wave that can blow apart much of the skull as it exits, demolish vital organs and cause unstoppable bleeding, a graphic and sobering online report from the Post shows.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-assault-weapons-ban-can-withstand-legal-challenge/