Judge upholds state’s assault weapons ban

Massachusetts’ beefed-up ban on assault weapons doesn’t violate the Second Amendment of the Constitution, a U.S. judge ruled, handing a victory to gun-control advocates seeking to pass such a law nationwide after a spate of deadly mass shootings.

“The AR-15 and its analogs, along with large capacity magazines, are simply not weapons within the original meaning of the individual constitutional rights to ‘bear arms,’” U.S. District Judge William Young wrote in a decision Thursday in Boston, dismissing a lawsuit over the state law.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey was sued by a gun-rights group in response to her July 2016 enforcement notice that broadened the definition of “copies or duplicates” of AR-15 and AK-47 models that are prohibited under the state’s 1998 assaultweapon bans.

“These are weapons of war that belong on the battlefield, and we were pleased today to see yet another court agree with that stance,” Kris Brown, co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement.

In November, the U.S. Supreme Court left intact a ruling that upheld Maryland’s ban on assault weapons.

Healey’s review was in response to the June 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed by a gunman brandishing a semi-automatic rifle and a semi-automatic pistol.

“Strong gun laws save lives, and we will not be intimidated by the gun lobby in our efforts to end the sale of assault weapons and protect our communities and schools,” Healey said in a statement.

James Campbell, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, including the Gun Owners’ Action League Inc., didn’t immediately return a call for comment, nor did the NRA’s press office.

But, according to the gun owners’ complaint, the term “assault weapons” is nontechnical and “entirely fabricated” to politicize the most-popular types of guns in the U.S.

“Healey unilaterally decreed that thousands of Massachusetts residents are suddenly criminals simply for having exercised their Second Amendment rights,” the plaintiffs said.

Young also rejected attempts by the gun-rights group to challenge the ban on the grounds that AR-15s are extremely popular.

“The AR-15’s present day popularity is not constitutionally material,” Young said.