'History, tradition' poor test for gun safety laws

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By The Herald Editorial Board

Among several pieces of firearms safety legislation passed by the state Legislature in recent years — including a ban last year on the sale of assault-style semiautomatic firearms — was 2022’s ban on high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

There is common sense and public support behind the restrictions on such magazines. A 2020 poll by Cascade PBS (formerly Crosscut)/Elway found that 65 percent of state registered voters polled supported regulating or banning high-capacity magazines. As well, a 2019 study found that states that did not ban large-capacity magazines suffered more than twice the number of high-fatality mass shootings compared with states with such restrictions. Those states saw fewer overall shootings and fewer deaths from mass shootings.

Yet, Monday, Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor ruled — in Washington v. Gator’s Custom Guns — that the two-year-old law violated both the state constitution’s right to bear arms for self-defense and U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. The ruling briefly ended the ban until a state Supreme Court commissioner put the lower court ruling on hold while the state seeks review by full state Supreme Court.

The state law was challenged by a Kelso gun dealer, who faced enforcement by Attorney General Bob Ferguson after the shop continued to sell the magazines. Ferguson has defended the law as constitutional, pointing to past court cases upholding it and similar laws in other states on constitutional grounds.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-history-tradition-poor-test-for-gun-safety-laws/

[Redleg]

1. There was a federal statute limiting magazines to 10 rounds

In fact, when I purchased some of my handguns the statute was in place. I learned to live with the limit. It didn't matter anyway for my Springfield 1911 .45 cal. which could hold only 7 rounds in the first place.

I would like to see a ban on so-called "assault style" weapons such as the AR-15 and clones. These seem to be the weapons of choice in many mass killings and attempts at mass killings. They do much more damage and have a higher rate of fire and higher magazine capacity than most handguns. They are not needed for self-defense in any situation that I can imagine.

I used to tell people who "needed" to own one of these weapons that they should join the army instead, where they would be issued the latest version, provided with free cleaning supplies, and receive proper coaching on how to handle these weapons. Plus they would also get the use of a nice armory to secure their weapons when they weren't being used at the range or out in the field. What a nice system!