Appeals Court Upholds Post-Newtown Assault Weapon Bans In New York, Connecticut.

The Huffington Post (10/20, Farias) reports that a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday“referenced the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, while holding up the core of gun control legislation passed in Connecticut and New York following the attack.” The court “upheld in large part” gun control legislation passed “in the wake of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.” The ruling “dealt a blow to the various gun groups that mounted a constitutional challenge against the laws, which prohibit possession of a number of semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. ‘The core prohibitions by New York and Connecticut of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines do not violate the Second Amendment,’ wrote Judge José Cabranes.”         The New York Times (10/20, Weiser, Subscription Publication) reports that the court said the states “had acted ‘based on substantial evidence’ and had ‘tailored the legislation at issue to address these particularly hazardous weapons.’” Judge Cabranes “noted that state legislatures were ‘far better equipped than the judiciary to make sensitive public policy judgments (within constitutional limits) concerning the dangers in carrying firearms and the manner to combat those risks,” and he pointed out that “the legislation had been ‘targeted to prevent mass shootings like that in Newtown,’ referring the school shooting in Connecticut in which the gunman, Adam Lanza, fired 154 rounds.”         The AP (10/20, Neumeister) reports the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Connecticut and New York state gun control laws passed after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The laws ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes held that the laws can aid a state’s compelling interest in “controlling crime.” The New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, one of the plaintiffs, said they would appeal the case to the US Supreme Court.