Yahoo Finance A Federal Judge Just Compared an AR-15 to a Swiss Army Knife
A federal judge overturned California’s three-decade ban on assault weapons on Friday, arguing that it violates the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms. California prohibited the sale of assault weapons in 1989. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego described the 30-year ban as a “failed experiment” and compared an AR-15 to a Swiss Army knife.
The injunction and the ruling will not go into effect until after 30 days. Up until then, the Attorney General can file for an appeal. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has already said he plans to do so. He will also seek an ongoing stay, which prohibits Judge Benitez’s ruling from being enacted until the upper courts decide what to do with it.
“Today’s decision is fundamentally flawed, and we will be appealing it,” wrote Bonta in a statement released on Friday. “There is no sound basis in law, fact, or common sense for equating assault rifles with swiss army knives — especially on Gun Violence Awareness Day and after the recent shootings in our own California communities. We need to take action to end gun violence now. We will fight this ruling and continue to advocate for and defend common sense gun laws that will save lives.”
Judge Benitez was nominated by George W. Bush in 2003 and was appointed as a district court judge after the Senate confirmed him the following year. In 2017, he blocked a new California law that would’ve banned multiple-round magazines. That decision is currently under appeal and will be re-heard in February by an 11-judge panel.
California Governor Gavin Newsom also released a statement criticising Judge Benitez’s logic and vowing to continue fighting for sensible gun law reform. “Today’s decision is a direct threat to public safety and the lives of innocent Californians, period. As the son of a judge, I grew up with deep respect for the judicial process and the importance of a judge’s ability to make impartial fact-based rulings, but the fact that this judge compared the AR-15 – a weapon of war that’s used on the battlefield – to a Swiss Army Knife completely undermines the credibility of this decision and is a slap in the face to the families who’ve lost loved ones to this weapon. We’re not backing down from this fight, and we’ll continue pushing for common sense gun laws that will save lives.”
Benitez blamed the news media for mischaracterising the use of automatic weapons in the U.S. "One is to be forgiven if one is persuaded by news media and others that the nation is awash with murderous AR-15 assault rifles,” wrote Benitez. “The facts, however, do not support this hyperbole, and facts matter."
In reality, AR-15-style rifles have been used in some of America’s most deadly shootings including in a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, at a music festival in Las Vegas, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, during the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, and the Parkland and Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings.
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