Posted on the Examiner . . .
http://www.examiner.com/article/sca...138858839_23449331_10151074025573839#f3ad11c5
One test the courts have employed in Heller vs DC and previous cases to decide what arms are protected is the 'common use' test.
It goes something like this: If an arm is contemporarily in common use, if it is a bearable arm, then it is presumptively protected by the second amendment.
This is important, because for the amendment to have it's intended effect. the arms that are owned and carried must be sufficient to counteract the arms that they are intended to oppose.
One traditionally lawful use of firearms is to defend against violent crime. Requiring citizens to carry arms that have inferior performance characteristics, with magazine capacity restrictions for example, would eviscerate the amendment for one of it's core purposes.
Highly trained police routinely exceed 10, 20 or even 30 rounds of ammunition subduing a single violent subject. Lethal encounters are often rapidly evolving, dynamic events where many shots may miss their mark. An assailant may have body armor or drugs on board which may delay his response to defensive gunfire.
A typical citizen will not have the advantages that a police officer has in terms of protective gear, radio backup, multiple force options, and years of experience.
In defending one's family, it is not reasonable expect a citizen to accomplish with ten rounds what a police officer cannot with all of his or her built-in advantages.
Frighteningly common home invasions usually involve multiple armed intruders. In such circumstances, having a restricted 10-round magazine can get innocent people killed.
Assault Weapons:
Except for the issue of magazine capacity, there is NO difference in the performance characteristics between semi-automatic rifles designed for hunting and those with a more military appearance.
The 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington rounds used in what are popularly dubbed 'assault rifles' are considered too inferior for humane deer hunting in many states.
That statement is not intended to underplay the lethality of any rifle round, but it is intended to debunk the false idea that military-style semi-automatic rifles are somehow overpowered and inappropriate for civilian use.
Indeed, the 5.56/.223 round is considered an urban defense round due to it's significant loss of lethality after penetrating building material. Liability conscious police agencies favor the AR15 rifles precisely for this attribute.
When the court cases finally come, the high court will look at these issues very carefully, not through the lens of media hype and inflammatory monikers like 'assault weapon'.
The Second Amendment serves many purposes. It protects hunting, self-defense, defense of community, it's intended as a final safeguard against any future tyrannical government, and it's emblematic of the fact that we are a self-governed people.
But it's only specifically enumerated purpose, announced in it's first clause, is to protect the ability of a state to raise a militia of citizens. These citizens would be expected to bring their own weapons that are in common use. In the US, the most popular and ubiquitous semi-automatic rifle by a vast margin, is the AR-15 with standard 20 and 30 round magazines. This is the civilian version of the military's M4/M16 rifle.
For the reasons I have stated here, this is and ought to remain the MOST protected arm in the land.
-Christopher J Hoffman
7/30/12
