Not Coming After Hunting Rifles - Yet

Hunters, notoriously, don’t vote.  One study said that, nationwide, only between 30% and 50% of hunters vote.

Why don’t they get involved since Democrats have been coming after 2nd Amendment gun rights in increasingly radical fashion?  One answer is that some hunters feel the Democrats are not coming after their guns.  That’s no longer true (actually, it never was true but now there is proof.)

Connecticut State attorneys are arguing before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that hunting rifles, particularly semi-automatic ones like the AR-15, are not protected by the Constitution.

Background:

The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) and co-plaintiffs are suing the state of Connecticut to overturn their assault weapon and magazine bans as infringing on Second Amendment rights.

As well, NAGR seeks a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of these laws. 

In a 2nd Circuit appeals court hearing as to the preliminary injunction, the Connecticut Attorney General’s office raised a surprising new issue; it argued that the Second Amendment only protects guns commonly used for self-defense but does not protect hunting rifles, particularly semi-automatic ones.  Connecticut is saying the AR15 is a hunting rifle, NOT a self-defense weapon and, therefore, Connecticut has the authority to regulate it.

Connecticut based their position on a previous Supreme Court ruling (Heller) which stated that the Constitution guarantees the right to self-defense but does not offer blanket protection for all weapons. 

NAGR counterargued that the AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the U.S. (in common use) and is neither dangerous nor unusual and, counter to media hype,  are rarely used in mass shootings.

The eventual decision will only involve the preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the law while the actual suit over the law is being heard.  The issue of 2A not protecting hunting rifles is likely to be a big issue when the actual suit against the laws is heard.

For now, hunting rifles remain legal in Connecticut since existing law has not banned them.

A circuit-level victory here will establish legal precedent throughout the entire 2nd Circuit, which includes New York State.  NAGR losing would open the door to NY State banning AR-15’s as non self-defense weapons.    

Democrat leaders are always looking for any opportunity to further extend their war on guns, no matter how slight.  Hunters might want to reconsider not voting while using the excuse that Democrats aren’t coming for their guns.  As seen in Connecticut, it’s not a question of IF but WHEN they are coming.