Good news if you are in favor of stricter gun safety laws:
A federal district court on Thursday upheld a Connecticut gun control law that expanded the state's assault weapons ban, created a dangerous weapon offender registry and formed new rules for buying ammunition, the Hartford Courant reported.
The GOP appointed judge ruled in favor of public safety over plaintiff claims of infringement on the Second Amendment:
Gun control advocates were buoyed Thursday by a federal court decision in Hartford that upholds Connecticut's toughest-in-the-nation assault weapons ban, calling it a constitutionally valid means of balancing gun rights and the government's interest in reducing gun violence.
The gun rights lobby struck out on this one. The judge tossed out all three of the plaintiffs' constitutional challenges.
And best of all, the judge relied on Heller to make his ruling - that seems significant to me. Heller as a precedent to uphold an AWB.
The plaintiffs tried to use the claim that AW are in common use and although the judge acknowledged common use as a concept, he ruled it did not apply in this case.
I am not familiar with the details fo NY Safe ruling by the Fed court, but if it used Heller as well, seems like there is a strong foundation for a national move at some point.
http://www.courant.com/...
6:05 PM PT: About the NY Safe law: it was largely upheld by a Fed district judge in Dec. 2013 claiming public safety over Second Amendment rights. Judge ruled the restrictions didn't stop people from using guns in self defense. The judge also didn't accept the "common use" claim by plaintiffs - the judge agreed they are in common use, but decided that doesn't trump public safety.
http://www.buffalonews.com/...